No cancellation or postponement of JEE and NEET exams, same pursuit might be followed for all university exams: SC

The Supreme Court on Monday dismissed a plea seeking postponement of the Joint Entrance Examination (JEE) Main and National Eligibility Cum Entrance Test (NEET).

The petition was filed by advocate Alakh Alok Srivastava on behalf of 11 students from 11 states across the country who had moved the top court seeking relief amid the COVID-19 pandemic. 

The engineering entrance is scheduled to take place from September 1 to September 6 while the medical entrance is slated for September 13.

“Career of students cannot be put in peril. We find no merit in the petition. The petition is dismissed”, the bench which also comprised justices BR Gavai and Krishna Murari said.

“You (lawyers) have demanded opening of physical courts. But you want exams to be postponed. Postponment of exams is a loss for country,” the bench said.

Petitioner’s lawyer Alakh Alok Srivastava said that vaccine for Covid is “on its way” and he is not seeking an indefinite postponment of the exams. But the bench found no merit in the case.

The plea was in favor of conducting key entrance examinations only after normalcy is restored post-COVID-19 crisis. Ahead of the hearing, advocate Srivastava exuded confidence in getting justice for young JEE and NEET aspirants.

India Wide Parents’ Association chief Anubha Shrivastava Sahai too appeared optimistic ahead of the crucial hearing. “We are quite confident that the honorable Supreme Court will give justice to lakhs of students and government will support them.”

The JEE Main Exam 2020 would be conducted in two shifts- first shift and second shift. The first shift would be conducted from 9.30 am to 12.30 pm and the second shift would be conducted from 2.30 pm to 5.30 pm. Each shift will be for 3 hours. The examination would be a computer-based test and the subjects included are Physics, Chemistry, General Aptitude, and Mathematics.