NEET 2016: CBSE proposes two-phase exam, medical colleges & states oppose

The hearing in the National Eligibility Entrance Test (NEET) matter witnessed vociferous arguments by Senior Advocates and other lawyers appearing for various States and colleges..Despite vehement protests by Senior Advocates to hear them before passing any order, a Bench of Justices Anil R Dave, Shiva Kirti Singh and AK Goel reserved its order..The court was hearing a petition filed by NGO Sankalp Charitable Trust praying that NEET be held this year for admissions to private medical and dental colleges..The CBSE submitted a schedule for the exam as per which the exam will be held over two days – May 1 and July 24. ASG Pinky Anand appearing for Centre and CBSE informed the court that admissions will be completed by September 30..A number of States and college associations vehemently protested against holding NEET this year.Senior counsel Rajeev Dhavan strongly objected to holding the exam this year, arguing that the April 11 order of the Supreme Court only recalled the earlier judgment but not overruled it.“Does ‘recall’ mean overruled? No. The 3-judge Bench judgment has been recalled for hearing by Constitution Bench. It does not mean NEET is restored.”Dhavan also made it clear that Justice Dave, who had dissented in the 3-judge Bench judgment was inclined to holding NEET.“I don’t want to say this but the dissenting judge is pushing for NEET.”Dhawan did lighten things up though, saying,“It is between me and Justice Dave whom I love dearly.”Subsequently, Senior Advocates L Nageswara Rao and KK Venugopal argued for State of Tamil Nadu and Karnataka respectively. Rao said that entrance exams have been absent in Tamil Nadu since 2007.“Entrance to medical colleges is based on the marks in qualifying exam. The High Court had quashed NEET in 2010. If NEET is imposed on Tamil Nadu suddenly, students in Tamil Nadu will not be able to compete with students at the national level. They have no idea about how the exam would be”.KK Venugopal argued that based on the statute prevailing in the State, preparations are already in full swing to coduct the state exam.“Rs. 8 crore have been spent. More than 1.2 lakhs students have applied for the exam and 151 centres have been finalised for the exam.“He said that the states and colleges should be heard fully before the court passes an order.The Bench however, proceeded to reserve its order even as lawyers continued to protest vociferously. In fact, the final two minutes of the hearing was drowned in lawyers din.On April 11 this year, the Supreme Court had recalled its 2013 judgment by which it had quashed the National Eligibility Entrance Test as unconstitutional. A 5-judge Bench presided by Justice Anil Dave had passed that order while allowing the review petitions and directing that the matter be heard afresh..However, the order had not clarified whether NEET would be held in the interim or not leading to a lot of uncertainty and speculations.