Supreme Court Rejects NEET-PG Postponement Petition, Exam Set to Proceed

The Supreme Court of India has dismissed a petition seeking the postponement of the NEET-PG exam, which is scheduled for this Sunday. The Court’s decision underscores its commitment to maintaining the integrity of the examination process for nearly 200,000 candidates.

The NEET-PG exam, originally slated for June 23, had already been rescheduled once in response to concerns over NEET-UG irregularities. Despite this previous delay, the petitioners requested another postponement, citing issues with exam center locations and a lack of information regarding score normalization.

The petitioners argued that many candidates were assigned exam centers in cities that were difficult to reach. They contended that while the National Board of Examinations in Medical Sciences (NBEMS) notified them of their exam city on July 31, the specific exam center details were only provided on Thursday—just days before the test. They also expressed concerns over the exam’s scoring normalization formula, which had not yet been disclosed.

During Friday’s hearing, Chief Justice DY Chandrachud, along with Justices Manoj Misra and JB Pardiwala, expressed reservations about delaying the exam at such a late stage. The bench highlighted the impact on a significant number of students and their families, noting that rescheduling would disrupt the plans of approximately 200,000 candidates and their parents.

“How can we postpone such an exam? Nowadays, people just come asking to postpone the exam. It’s not a perfect world. We are not academic experts,” the court remarked. The judges emphasized that the Court could not jeopardize the future of so many individuals based on the concerns of a few petitioners.

The NEET-PG was previously postponed on June 22, a day before its original date, due to controversies surrounding NEET-UG and the replacement of the National Testing Agency’s chief. The postponement was aimed at ensuring the robustness of the examination process.

At that time, many candidates faced significant inconvenience, including having to travel to different cities with their families due to the sudden change. The latest ruling reinforces the Court’s stance on proceeding with the exam as scheduled, ensuring that the careers of thousands of aspiring medical professionals are not disrupted further.

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