FILE
Amid a furore over JEE and NEET exams, ministers of six opposition-ruled states moved the Supreme Court on Friday against its order allowing the holding of the key entrance examinations physically. The review petition comes after the top court refused to interfere with the conduct of the medical and engineering entrance exams, saying that life must go on and students can't lose a precious year due to the pandemic. However, it didn't go down well with certain students and they voiced their disagreements.
The National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET) is scheduled to take place on September 13 whereas the Joint Entrance Examination (JEE) Main, for entry into under-graduate Engineering Colleges and Institutes, is to be held from September 1 to 6. With the competitive exams just a few days away, students are keenly watching the last-ditch effort for postponement of the entrances. So, what next? Here is a wrap up:
Review petition filed in SC
The review petition was filed in the apex court by West Bengal minister Moloy Ghatak, Jharkhand minister Rameshwar Oraon, Rajasthan minister Raghu Sharma, Chhattisgarh minister Amarjeet Bhagat, Punjab minister BS Sidhu and Maharashtra minister Uday Ravindra Sawant. The plea, filed through advocate Sunil Fernandes, said the apex court fails to satisfy the safety and security concerns of students who have to appear for the exams. Terming the decision to conduct the exams as "irrational", the plea said that the apex court failed to appreciate that the Union government had adequate time to establish one centre for every district for NEET (UG) and JEE (Mains) rather than having several centres in one district. Mentioning another key point, the petition stated that the mere fact that lakhs of students have registered for the exam is not indicative of their consent or their willingness or their desire to attend physical exams.
The review plea also said that the August 17 order is "cryptic, non-speaking" and does not discuss various aspects and complexities involved in the matter of this magnitude. The plea, filed through advocate Fernandes, said that only two reasons given by the court -- life must go on and students should not lose an academic year -- do not constitute an authoritative and comprehensive judicial scrutiny of the issue. The apex court's observation that "Life Must Go On" may have very sound philosophical underpinnings but cannot be a substitute for valid legal reasoning and logical analysis of the various aspects involved in the conduct of the NEET-UG and JEE exams, it mentioned. The review plea said that the "impugned order deserves to be recalled and the examinations deserve to be postponed."
Puducherry MLA RKR Anantharaman, the govt whip, has also filed a review petition in the apex court against the previous decision of the apex court. The review petition states that if the August 17 order is not reviewed then "grave and irreparable harm and injury would befall on the student community" and that "public health at large would be in severe jeopardy in these COVID-19 times."
What next
Since the matter hasn't been listed by the court so far, advocates involved in the case are asking students to not rely much on the review petition as the exams are just a few days away. Advocate Sunil Fernandes made it clear that the mere filing of review petition does not mean the exams will be postponed. Don't be misled, he said.
Advocate Anubha Shrivastava Sahai, also the chief of the India Wide Parents' Association, also asked students to focus on their studies and not rely much on the petition filed in the apex court. "Students I request you all to focus on studies and don't rely much on the petition filed in SC. Until there will be any stay from SC. which I feel is difficult, exams will be conducted. So focus on your studies," she said.
