AIPMT 2016 : NEET for admission in MBBS

Supreme Court approves NEET for admission in MBBS

 

 All India Pre-Medical Test (AIPMT) scheduled for May 1 will be treated as first round of the National Eligibility Entrance Test (NEET)

The Supreme Court Thursday fixed the timeline for conducting the common all-India medical entrance test for admissions to MBBS and BDS courses and clarified that its directive will supersede all other orders relating to medical admissions. With this clarification, the three-judge bench led by Justice Anil R Dave made it unequivocal that all other admission tests, already held or scheduled for later, for admission to government colleges, deemed universities, private medical colleges, minority and linguistic minority colleges, stand scrapped.

On Thursday, the bench, also comprising Justices Shiva Kirti Singh and Adarsh K Goel, approved the schedule placed before it by the Union Health Ministry, CBSE and the Medical Council of India (MCI).

According to the schedule, the All India Pre-Medical Test (AIPMT) scheduled for May 1 will be treated as first round of the National Eligibility Entrance Test (NEET). However, those who have not applied for AIPMT will be given opportunity to appear in round two on July 24. The combined result will be declared on August 17, in order to complete the admission process by September 30 — a deadline set by the apex court in its previous orders.

Around 6.5 lakh students are likely to appear for the entrance exams. “We further clarify that notwithstanding any order passed by any Court earlier with regard to not holding NEET, this order shall operate. Therefore, no further order is required to be passed at this stage,” the bench said.

The court also rejected a submission made by counsel for some private medical colleges from Karnataka and other states that a batch of review petitions on validity of the common medical entrance test was already pending and hence the order on NEET must wait for a decision in those cases too. The counsel requested the court to clarify that the order to hold NEET would not impact the private colleges, which are parties in the review petitions, but the bench shot down the plea.

“We do not agree with the first submission for the reason that the said judgment has already been recalled on 11th April, 2016 and therefore, the notifications dated 21st December, 2010 are in operation as on today,” it said. While the 2010 notification had made NEET mandatory for admissions, the apex court in 2013 had declared it illegal, an order that was this month recalled.

Thursday’s court order came on a PIL filed by NGO Sankalp Charitable Trust, which had sought directives for conducting NEET in the wake of a Constitution Bench judgment, which had a fortnight ago recalled the 2013 order against holding the NEET.

AIPMT 2016: CBSE challenges Kerala HC order on allowing girls to wear Hijab for exams

       Kerala High Court on Thursday had said that the CBSE dress code shall not be enforced against the candidates who, by the virtue of Article 25, are protected from wearing such dress as prescribed in the injunctions of their faith.

CBSE on Thursday challenged a Kerala High Court single bench order granting permission to Muslim girls to wear the Hijab, a customary religious dress, for All India Pre-Medical Test-2016.

In an appeal filed before the division bench of the High Court, CBSE said the single bench had ignored the likelihood of millions of students being affected by its direction, particularly in view of the fact that arrangements for the conduct of examination have been completed. It contended that since the judgement creates necessity for additional women invigilators, CBSE would find conduct of the examination with such additional women invigilators trained to "honour religious sentiments" extremely cumbersome, unmanageable and unworkable with the existing manpower extant arrangement at this extremely belated stage".

In his April 26 order, Justice Muhammed Mushtaq had permitted all candidates who, based on the religious practice, want to wear headscarf and full-sleeved length dress to appear for the examination but on condition that they be present at the hall half an hour before the exam for frisking, if necessary, by women invigilators.

The Court had said that the CBSE dress code shall not be enforced against the candidates who, by the virtue of Article 25, are protected from wearing such dress as prescribed in the injunctions of their faith. The order was issued while hearing a writ petition by one Amnah Bint Basheer, challenging the dress code prescribed for the candidates by CBSE in the bulletin relating to conduct of AIPMET-2016.

The petitioner had contended that the instructions contained in the AIPMET-2016 bulletin on dress code, as per her religious beliefs and practises, would amount to violation of exercise of religious freedom.

Last year, a single Judge of the Kerala High Court had allowed two Muslim girl students to wear hijab while appearing for CBSE AIPMT-2015.

"The learned Single judge having implied declined relief quashing the relevant provisions of the AIPMET Bulletin, however erred in proceeding to grant omnibus reliefs which are unworkable and completely without jurisdiction", according to the appeal filed by CBSE before the division bench.

The bench is expected to consider the case on Friday.