The Medical Council of India (MCI) and the Centre have moved the Supreme
Court seeking review of the judgment declaring as unconstitutional the
single National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test (NEET) introduced by the
MCI and Dental Council of India for admission to graduate and post
graduate medical and dental courses.
A Bench of Chief Justice Altamas Kabir (since retd.) and
Justices Anil R. Dave and Vikramajit Sen had by a majority of 2:1
quashed the NEET on July 18. Mr. Justice Dave, in a separate judgment,
held that the test was valid.
In its petition, the
MCI said “If the July 18 judgment is not stayed, it will seriously
prejudice the progress of the process of holding common entrance test
which has been evolved over the period of more than five years of
deliberations, judicial orders. The majority judgment is based on series
of error apparent on the face of record, and is in ignorance of
statutory provisions.”
In its petition, the Centre
said that ensuring uniform standards for medical education was of
paramount interest to the patient and the single-window system to draw
the merit list was a step in that regard. Holding of common entrance
test came about as a consequence of the Supreme Court’s orders in the
Simran Jain case, during the hearing of which a decision was taken that
the MCI would hold a single entrance test since merit in medical
education was essential to ensure quality healthcare to citizens.
It
said the guidelines annexed to NEET ensured that the single-window
admission system would be in breach of neither the rights of States nor
would it interfere with rights of religious and linguistic minorities.
Sankalp,
a non-governmental organisation, also sought review of the NEET
judgment. It said the issue regarding holding a common entrance test for
graduate and postgraduate professional courses was in teeth of the law
laid down by a seven bench judgment of this Court in the P. Inamdar
case.
It said the court had not appreciated that this
court in the ‘Preeti Srivastava case’ had also held that a State had
the right to control education, including medical education, so long as
the field was unoccupied by any Union legislation.
Sankalp
said: “As has been rightly held by the minority judgment that under
NEET though the students can be selected only on the basis of their
merit, it would be open to the States to follow their reservation policy
and it would also be open to the institutions based on religious or
linguistic minority to select students of their choice, provided the
students so selected have secured minimum marks prescribed at NEET.” The
petitioners sought oral hearing of the matter.
Source: The hindu
