Supreme Court dismisses PIL against DMK's anti-NEET campaign

The Supreme Court on Tuesday dismissed a plea challenging the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) party's signature campaign in Tamil Nadu schools against the National Eligibility Cum Entrance Test (NEET) [ML Ravi vs Secretary to Government of Tamil Nadu and anr].A bench of Justices Surya Kant and KV Viswanathan stated that students today are well-informed to see through such campaigns against national-level examinations."Students nowadays are well-informed and aware. Such campaigns against a national-level examination with central planning will not affect them. Let those who want to campaign. This is not a matter for (Article) 32," Justice Kant remarked.NEET is the pre-medical entrance exam for candidates seeking admission to government and private medical colleges in India..The campaign in focus known as NEET Vilaku, Nam llakku (our goal is to abolish NEET) was initiated by the DMK led by Tamil Nadu Youth Welfare and Sports Development Minister, Udayanidhi Stalin.Signatures collected for the campaign are to be presented to President Draupadi Murmu.The said campaign was objected by advocate ML Ravi who approached the Madras High Court in November 2023 with a petition opposing the campaign. However, he withdrew the petition before the High Court after the bench there was inclined to dismiss it with costs. .Advocate Ravi then moved the present plea before the Supreme Court. The public interest litigation (PIL) petitioner before the top court contended that NEET is an established examination and a minister cannot protest against it. The plea said that the ruling party in the State was engaging in political activities in schools without parental consent.Such campaigns may adversely affect students' motivation to prepare for the entrance exams, the petitioner added..The Union government’s only agenda behind NEET is to penalise advanced states: Former Madras High Court judge, Justice AK Rajan.On a related note, the Supreme Court is also seized of a plea by the DMK-led State of Tamil Nadu challenging the validity of NEET.The State has contended that the NEET is violative of federalism since it takes away the power of the States to admit students to government seats in medical colleges.Further, the original suit says that NEET exam is violative of right to equality under Article 14 of the Constitution since it has adversely affected the students in Tamil Nadu, particularly those from rural areas and students State-board affiliated schools who cannot afford to go to entrance coaching centres.