SC allows NEET on October 14 for students who could not appear in September due to COVID-19

The Supreme Court of India on Monday allowed the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET) exam to be conducted on the 14th of October for students who couldn’t appear for the exam due to COVID-19 infection or because they were residing in containment zones.

The decision was passed by a Bench of CJI SA Bobde with Justices AS Bopanna and V Ramasubramanian in a PIL that was filed by the CBSE.

The result for the same will be announced on 16th October.

Earlier, the Supreme Court had dismissed a number of petitions seeking the postponement of NEET exams amid this COVID-19 pandemic.

The NEET 2020 exam was conducted on 13 September across the nation after the Supreme Court dismissed a number of PILs that were filed to postpone the exam on account of safety and logistical concerns amid this pandemic.

The first batch of such pleas was dismissed on August 17. A review plea, urging the Court to reconsider the correctness of its August 17 ruling was also later dismissed.

The National Testing Agency (NTA), said that about 88 percent of the 15.97 lakh candidates who had registered for the exam took the test.

As per the Standard Operating Procedure(SOP), the candidates who were infected with COVID-19 or residing in the containment zones were not allowed to appear in the exam.