The Supreme Court on Friday allowed medical students of over 25 years to take this year’s National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET) examination.
An apex court bench headed by Justice Dipak Misra also extended the last date of filling up the forms till April 5.
It said that the age limit can be fixed from the next academic year.
The government had in January issued an executive order limiting to three the number of times a student can take the NEET. It had also capped the eligibility age of candidates at 25.
The bench was hearing a plea challenging the age limit fixed by the CBSE for candidates appearing for NEET 2017 examination.
Earlier this month, a Supreme Court-appointed panel had vetoed government’s move to cap the age of students and the number of attempts they are allowed to clear the exam.
The panel, headed by former CJI RM Lodha, had noted that it was in favour of striking down the government’s eligibility criteria because there is a ‘dearth of doctors in the country’.
The CBSE had on March 23 announced that a record over 11 lakh students have registered for the NEET for admission to undergraduate medical course. It had also said that 23 more new cities have been added to the list of cities where examination will be held, taking the total number to 103.
The new list includes four cities each from Karnataka and Maharashtra, three from Gujarat and Tamil Nadu each, two each from Andhra Pradesh, West Bengal and Kerala and one city each from Punjab, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh.
The NEET 2017 for admission to MBBS/BDS courses in Medical Council of India/Dental Council of India approved medical/dental colleges, will be held on May 7.
