Plea in SC against Centre’s Ordinance on NEET

A plea was filed in the Supreme Court on Thursday, seeking quashing of a recently-promulgated Ordinance that allows states to continue with their separate entrance tests for MBBS and BDS courses, besides uniform medical entrance test NEET, for academic year 2016-17.

The plea, likely to be listed for hearing before a Vacation Bench in a day or two, has been filed by Dr Anand Rai, a whistle- blower in the Vyapam scam. The plea also seeks a stay on the operation of the Ordinance as an interim relief.

Referring to Centre’s stand to support the single-window National Eligibility and Entrance Test (NEET) for admissions, the plea said the government had made a “complete U-turn”, which shows “mala fides and ill intent towards the process of admission of students who shall suffer the most”. 

“The normal democratic legislative process involves people’s representatives in the two Houses openly enacting a law after full consideration and discussion, an Ordinance seeks to circumvent this procedure for it is drafted secretly in government chambers and is promulgated without an open discussion, and hence, it is becomes even more pertinent that the Ordinance making power is not invoked lightly but only when absolutely necessary to do so, and the situation cannot be otherwise met effectively,” it said.