NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Wednesday dismissed a plea challenging a decision of the National Medical Commission (NMC) to not conduct NEET-Super Speciality examination this year.
A bench comprising Chief Justice D Y Chandrachud and justices J B Pardiwala and Manoj Misra, refused to entertain the petition filed by Dr Rahul Balwan and 12 other doctors.
"The NMC’s decision is fairly equitable and this court is not inclined to tinker with the exam calendar," the top court said, while not finding any merit in the plea.
The National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test-Super Speciality (NEET-SS) is taken by doctors with post-graduate degrees, such as MD or MS, or equivalent qualifications, for admission to super-speciality courses.
The top court on July 19 had issued a notice to the NMC and sought its response on hearing this Public Interest Litigation (PIL) challenging the cancellation of NEET-SS for 2024.
Initially the apex court was not inclined to hear the PIL filed by the petitoners, under Article 32 of the Indian Constitution, but finally, the bench, led by the CJI issued notice on the plea.
Earlier, the top court, while granting liberty to all the petitioners, including Balwan and 12 others, to implead National Board of Examinations (NBE) as a party to the case, also issued notice to the NMC, Medical Counselling Committee and sought their respective replies.
During the hearing on July 19, the court inquired why the plea was filed under Article 32. The petitioners’ lawyer argued that the cancellation of the exam was to accommodate NEET-PG students and highlighted that there is a fixed timeline for such exams as established in the Ashish Ranjan judgment.