The top court of the country on Monday junked a plea seeking postponement of JEE and NEET examinations saying that any further delay in the exams would result in the waste of “precious year” for the students. The rescheduled JEE Mains exams are slated to occur between Septemeber 1-6, while NEET-UG will take place on September 13.
Life should move on and examinations should continue to happen while following coronavirus guidelines: SC
A bench headed by Justice Arun Mishra observed that life has to move on despite the raging coronavirus pandemic in the country. “Life should move on. We have to go ahead. Precious one year of students will go to waste if the postponement of the exams is announced,” he said. The bench reasoned that even the courts are functioning during the COVID-19 outbreak and the examinations could also be conducted by following government-mandated guidelines.
Appearing for the National Testing Agency (NTA), Solicitor general Tushar Mehta guaranteed the bench that all precautionary steps will be taken by NTA while conducting the examinations. The court was hearing the pleas filed by some students for the cancellation of the July 3 notification of NTA, announcing the dates of the IEE (Main) and NEET exams. The petitioners argued that the examinations should be adjourned until such time when some semblance of normalcy is attained.
The petitions also sought the authorities to increase the number of examination centres. Furthermore, the petitioners alleged that the authorities disregarded the plight of lakhs of students from Bihar, Assam and the northeastern states, who were displaced due to the flood situation, and conducting exams via online or offline methods may not be feasible in such locations.