SC removes age cap of 25 yrs for candidates taking NEET exam

The Supreme Court on Friday removed the age cap of 25 years for candidates appearing for the NEET-2017 examination for MBBS/BDS courses and allowed filling up of forms through online portal of the CBSE till April 5.

A bench of Justices Dipak Misra and A M Khanwilkar held that prima facie the age limit for the May 7 examination fixed by the CBSE, cannot be determined by way of issuing notice on the basis of instructions issued by the Medical Council of India (MCI).

The National Eligibility Entrance Test (NEET) is scheduled to be held on May 7 for which the last date for filling up forms was March 1.

"As we, prima facie, find such an age limit could not have been determined by way of a notice on the basis of the instructions issued by the Medical Council of India, it is appropriate to direct that all the desirous candidates will be allowed to fill up the forms on the online portal of the CBSE on or before April 5, 2017," the bench said in its interim order.

It said that forms submitted by any candidate after April 5 will not be accepted as the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE), which is conducting the examination, will be facing problems.

The apex court directed that if the CBSE seek any logistic support from the agencies concerned for having additional centre in any area, then the district collector or the commissioner of the city will extend all the support including making different centres available so that the examination is held on the date fixed.

The bench was hearing a petition filed by one Rai Sabyasachi and other NEET aspirants who had challenged the notice issued by the CBSE on January 31, 2017 stipulating the maximum age limit of 25 years for the eligible candidates for the examination.

The court also restrained the high courts from interfering in the matters like choice and allocation of centres and said that if any contrary order has already been passed by any of the courts, then the CBSE shall be bound by the order of apex court only.

Directing the CBSE that its online portal shall remain open from this evening, the bench said that all required assistance shall be extended to Sanyam Bhardwaj, the joint secretary of the board responsible for conducting the test.