Gujarat student files caveat on NEET ordinance

A Gujarat based student on Wednesday filed a caveat in the Supreme Court seeking to be heard in the event of any challenge to the ordinance exempting states from the National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test (NEET).

Caveat was moved on Wednesday morning on behalf of Jugal Nikhil Shah, who had appeared for the state level Common Entrance Test conducted by the Gujarat Board on May 10, 2016.

Shah, who had appeared in the senior secondary exam, is a student of Mirambika English Medium School in Ahmedabad.

Senior counsel R.K. Kapoor representing Shah said that he (Shah) is defending the ordinance saying that parliament had full power to enact law exempting exams conducted by the state boards from the NEET.

The speculations are making rounds that some people, including an NGO, are preparing to challenge the ordinance on NEET which was signed by President Pranab Mukherjee on Tuesday.

By the ordinance certain state education boards have been exempted from the ambit of the NEET for the current academic year. The exempted states are Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Gujarat, Maharashtra and Punjab.

The possibility of the ordinance being challenged on the grounds of exemptions it had carved out for Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Gujarat, Maharashtra and Punjab is rooted in a May 9 order of the apex court refusing to modify its April 28 order making NEET mandatory for admission to undergraduate medical courses across the country for the academic year 2016-2017.

The apex court bench comprising Justice Anil R. Dave, Justice Shiva Kirti Singh and Justice Adarsh Kumsr Goel on May 9 held that "Prima facie, we do not find any infirmity in the NEET regulation on the ground that it affects the rights of the States or the private institutions."

The bench had said that it found "no merit" in the applications seeking modification of it April 28 order making NEET the only route for admission to medical colleges.