‘No alternative date may be available if exam postponed’

New Delhi: The National Board of Examinations (NBE) on Friday told the Supreme Court that around 2.09 lakh candidates have registered for the NEET-PG exam 2023, which is scheduled for March 5, and no alternative date for conducting the exam may be available in the near future if it is postponed.

The submissions were made before a bench of justices S R Bhat and Dipankar Datta, which was hearing two petitions seeking postponement of the National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test (NEET)-PG exam.

The apex court, which made clear that it was not passing any order either way, asked Additional Solicitor General (ASG) Aishwarya Bhati, appearing for the NBE, to come out with a solution of the issue raised by the petitioners.

The petitioners have sought postponement of the examination saying the counselling have to be conducted after August 11 since the cut-off date for internship has been extended to that date.

“For those who are waiting for this (examination), it is really a mental torture,” the bench observed, adding, “When we postpone a judicial exam, there is agony for the candidates who are preparing for it. The whole dynamics change.”

When the bench said it wanted to know how many candidates would be affected by this, senior advocate Gopal Sankaranarayanan, appearing for the petitioners, said the apex court can call the NBE to explain on it.

Later, ASG Bhati appeared in the matter and told the bench, “I have some information on the examination”.

Bhati said around 2.09 lakh candidates have registered for the exam, a technology partner has been roped in for conducting the test and all preparations have been made.

“If the examination is postponed, no alternate test date may be available in the near future as the technology partner may not be available,” she said, adding that the authorities are trying to follow the schedule affirmed by the apex court earlier.

Sankaranarayanan told the bench that though 13 petitioners have approached the apex court, the issue raised by them affects nearly 45,000 candidates.