NEET 2022 NOT postponed, Delhi HC dismisses plea to postpone NEET UG Exam, says no merit in petition

NEET 2022 NOT postponed, Delhi HC dismisses plea to postpone NEET UG Exam, says no merit in petition

NEET 2022 has not been postponed. Delhi High Court today dismissed the plea to postpone the examination. The court pointed out that there was no actual overlap of the examination and that the examination schedule cannot be disrupted continuously.

TN Education Desk

Updated Jul 14, 2022 | 03:31 PM IST

National Eligibility cum Entrance Test, NEET 2022 has not been postponed. Delhi High Court bench today dismissed the plea to postpone the medical and dental admission test scheduled for July 17. The court pointed out that it was too late and the petition was misconceived. Clearly not amused, the court also said that it is not going to levy costs because these are students.

"I was quite inclined to pass order against the petitioner but only becase these are students we are not going. If such petitions are filed then the court wll not shy away from imposing costs," Justice Narula noted as he dismissed the plea. He further added that there was no merit in the petition.

The court was not convinced by the petitioners’ statements, questioning the rationale of seeking deferment of the exam at the last minute. It also asked as to how could 15 students ask for the postponement of the examination at the last minute. 

On the concerns regarding flood situation, the court pointed out that it is the Monsoon season. We are in monsoon season. That cannot be the basis that there are floods in some districts. Something or the other keeps happening in our country,” Justice pointed out.

As for the clustered examinations, Court quizzed if any of the examinations were overlapping. When refused, the court said that this was actually in favor of the students With subjects being similar, the court suggested that students would actually be freshly prepared for all the examinations. The court also quickly dismissed the possibility of Phase II as there was no precedent.

Students had filed a petition in the Delhi HC, seeking postponement of NEET UG 2022 examination by 4 to 6 weeks. The main point raised by the students was that many national level competitive exams were nestled together with a gap of only about 1 to 2 days.

Talking about NTA, which would be conducting CUET, NEET and JEE Main almost next to each other, the students have asked the court to offer respite. “Respondents scheduled National Level Examinaitons CUET, NEET UG and JEE in the month of July 2022 having a time gap of 1-2 days, wherein the syllabus of all three examinations is completely different,” the plea read.

NTA maintained its stand that the examination would not be postponed. Citing disruption of academic calendar over the past two years, NTA Counsel urged the court not to defer as delay of even a single day would create havoc. NTA also said that the time schedule has to be compressed this year in order to bring back the academic calendar on track.

NTA Counsel shared that 90 per cent of the students registered for the NEET examinaiton have downloaded their admit cards. They have also shared that all possible arrangements would be made and that agency has already written to states for support.