The Supreme Court on Monday directed the government to allow students in Gulf countries to fly via "Vande Bharat Mission" flights to appear for the National Eligibility Cum Entrance Test (NEET) Undergraduate (UG) 2020 in India. The apex court declined to pass a direction to the government to hold the test at examination centres in Gulf countries.
SC was hearing a petition against the June 30 order by Kerala High Court which dismissed the plea for setting up overseas examination centres or postponement of the exams until the coronavirus pandemic gets controlled. The NEET UG 2020 exam is scheduled for September 13.
"If the Joint Entrance Exam can be held online then you should consider NEET also to be held in an online form from next year," SC also said.
The decision comes in the wake of the novel coronavirus pandemic and amid the requests for postponement of conducting NEET, JEE and other competitive examinations during the virus outbreak.
Meanwhile, Medical Council of India (MCI) has submitted an affidavit before the Supreme Court against the postponement of the NEET 2020. The council said that the NEET 2020 exam cannot be further postponed. As per the MCI, the further postponement of the NEET entrance exam will be a "drastic deviation" from the academic schedule which "may affect the subsequent academic years" of the students.
The affidavit came in response to a plea filed by a NEET aspirant's father, who lives in a Gulf country. The father has sought that the undergraduate entrance exam to be either made online or examination centre be provided for close to 4,000 NEET candidates, residing in Gulf countries due to coronavirus pandemic.
Also read: NEET 2020 cannot be further postponed: MCI to SC
Also read: JEE, NEET 2020 exam dates announced; Centre releases schedule after admit cards