Can't exempt Tamil Nadu from NEET, start medical admission: SC

TNN | Updated: Aug 23, 2017, 06:25 AM IST

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CHENNAI/NEW DELHI: The Tamil Nadu government's NEET bubble burst on Wednesday when the Supreme Court directed it to do MBBS/BDS admissions solely on the basis of NEET marks. The verdict came after the Centre informed the court that there was no ordinance in the pipeline to exempt Tamil Nadu from the ambit of NEET, even as one-time measure.

The only consolation is that the apex court granted four additional days for the government to complete the MBBS admissions. As against the national deadline of August 31 to wind up medical admissions, Tamil Nadu will have time till September 4 to complete MBBS counselling. For BDS courses, September 10 will be the l ast date, as Dental Council of India has already extended the deadline.

Left red-faced, the state officials said they would release merit list on Wednesday and start counselling on Thursday. DMK-led opposition parties lost no time in heckling the state government for mishandling the issue, and announced a joint demonstration on Thursday.

Earlier in the day, a bench headed by Justice Dipak Misra declined to exempt Tamil Nadu from NEET after attorney-general of India K K Venugopal told the bench that the proposed ordinance by Tamil Nadu government in this regard had not got the Centre's clearance. The Centre said it was not in favour of any ordinance offering one-time exemption for the state.