SC refuses to postpone NEET-PG exam, emphasises certainty in medical education

New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Friday refused to postpone or reschedule the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (Postgraduate) or NEET-PG 2024 exam, scheduled for August 11, asserting the importance of maintaining certainty in the medical education system in the country. 
Rejecting the plea brought forward by a small group of candidates, a bench, led by Chief Justice of India Dhananjaya Y Chandrachud, underscored the potential adverse impact on the careers of nearly two lakh students if the exam were to be rescheduled.
During the proceedings, the bench, also comprising justices JB Pardiwala and Manoj Misra, made it clear that the interests of a few petitioners could not outweigh the broader concerns of the vast majority of students and their families. 
“Let there be some certainty…let there be certainty for the medical students at least now,” the bench remarked, referring to the ongoing litigation surrounding the NEET exams. 
The court highlighted the significant disruption that would result from a last-minute postponement, emphasising that such a decision would affect not just students but also their families. 
The petitioners, represented by senior advocate Sanjay Hegde, argued that they were not seeking a blanket postponement but were instead raising concerns about the allocation of test centres and the normalisation process for the exam, which is to be held in two batches. 
However, the bench remained unimpressed. “For five petitioners, you stay the exam for two lakh students? We aren’t going to reschedule this exam. There are two lakh students and close to four lakh parents who will weep over the weekend. At the behest of five students, we can’t put the career of two lakh students in jeopardy,” it stated.
The court also acknowledged the complexities involved in organising such a large-scale examination and deferred to the expertise of the authorities responsible for its conduct. “It’s not a perfect world. We aren’t experts. These are decisions taken by experts,” the bench noted, underscoring the limitations of judicial intervention in technical matters of education administration.
Hegde, in his arguments, contended that the allocation of test centres had been made on short notice, making it difficult for many candidates to make travel arrangements, particularly given the dynamic pricing of airfares and the non-availability of train tickets. He also raised concerns about the lack of transparency in the normalisation formula used to assess candidates across different batches.
In response, the court acknowledged the petitioners’ concerns but emphasised the broader implications of their request. “Your arguments are postulated on ideal solutions, but we are looking at very complex issues,” observed the bench, ultimately rejecting the petition.
The latest challenge to the NEET-PG exam comes merely a few days after the Supreme Court refused to cancel the NEET UG-2024 exam, which was marred by accusations of paper leaks and other malpractices. In that case, the same bench held that there was no systemic breach and that the leakage was confined to an identifiable set of students who could be segregated from the genuine candidates. Despite rejecting the plea to cancel the exam, the top court had pulled up the National Testing Agency (NTA) for mishandling the exam and suggested a slew of reforms to prevent such incidents in the future.
The latest petition was filed against the backdrop of logistical challenges faced by candidates appearing for NEET-PG 2024. The petitioners highlighted two main issues – the inconvenient allocation of test centres, and the lack of clarity regarding the normalisation formula for the exam, which is scheduled to be conducted in two batches.
The petition argued that the allocation of test centers, made just days before the exam, left many candidates struggling to secure travel arrangements. Additionally, the petitioners expressed concerns about potential disparities between the two batches, fearing that differences in question paper difficulty could lead to arbitrary results.