Today, On 14th August, The Supreme Court dismissed a petition challenging the National Medical Commission’s (NMC) decision not to conduct the NEET-SS examination this year. The plea sought to overturn the NMC’s announcement, but the court upheld the commission’s decision.
New Delhi: The Supreme Court, On Wednesday, rejected a plea challenging the National Medical Commission’s (NMC) decision to cancel the NEET-Super Speciality (NEET-SS) examination for this year.
A bench led by Chief Justice D Y Chandrachud, along with Justices J B Pardiwala and Manoj Misra, deemed the NMC’s decision “fairly equitable” and chose not to interfere with the existing exam schedule.
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The NEET-SS exam is typically available to doctors holding post-graduate degrees such as MD, MS, DNB, or equivalent qualifications, for admission to super-speciality courses.
Previously, on July 19, the court issued a notice to the NMC in response to a petition filed by 13 doctors, including Rahul Balwan.
The National Medical Commission (NMC) attributed the postponement of the NEET-Super Speciality (NEET-SS) exam to delays in admissions for MD, MS, and DNB courses during the 2021 academic session, caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. The admissions process for that year’s batch delayed, running from January to May 2022, which in turn postponed the start of the new academic session. As a result, the course completion has been pushed to January 2025. To accommodate these students, the NMC decided to defer the NEET-SS 2024 exam.
A group of 13 doctors filed a petition under Article 32 of the Constitution, challenging the NMC’s decision.
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However, the Supreme Court bench, led by Chief Justice D Y Chandrachud and Justices J B Pardiwala and Manoj Misra, highlighted that the NMC reported that approximately 40 percent of NEET-SS exam candidates come from the current batch. If the exam held this year, students from the 2021 batch, who will complete their courses by January 2025, would miss the opportunity to participate.
Advocate Rashmi Nandkumar, representing the petitioners, argued that delaying the exam would disadvantage the remaining 60 percent of students who are not from the current batch.
The NEET-SS exam is critical for securing admission to 2,447 seats in Doctor of Medicine (DM) and Masters of Surgery (MCh) programs across 156 government and private medical colleges, as well as Armed Forces Medical Service (AFMS) institutions.