'Conduct Test By Jan 2025': SC Rejects Plea Challenging NMC's Decision Not To Hold NEET SS This Year

The Supreme Court has declined to interfere with the National Medical Commission’s decision to defer the NEET Super Speciality (NEET SS) for 2024. The court, however, has asked the commission to release the exam schedule within a month and hold the exam by January 2025.

According to the NMC, the delay in admissions for MD, MS, and DMB courses through the NEET PG exam in the academic session 2021 is the main reason behind the postponement of the exam. Due to COVID-19, the admission process for that’s year batch got delayed. It was held between January 2022 to May 2022, thus delaying the commencement of the new academic session. The course will now be completed in January 2025. Hence, the commission had decided to postpone the NEET-SS 2024 to accommodate these students, reported Live Law.

The petition was filed by 13 doctors under Article 32 of the Constitution against the NMC’s decision to defer the exam. The SC bench led by CJI DY Chandrachud, along with Justices JB Pardiwala and Manoj Misra has said that the commission has stated that at least 40 per cent of the students who take the NEET-SS exam are from the current batch, the report added. Hence, students of the 2021 batch who would be completing their course by January 2025 would miss out on the exam if it is held this year.

The petitioners’ counsel Advocate Rashmi Nandkumar however argued that since only 40 per cent of the students who will take the NEET SS exam are from the immediately preceding PG batch, it would be a disadvantage to the remaining 60 per cent of the students, the report further stated.

The exam serves as the gateway for securing admission to 2,447 seats for Doctors of Medicine (DM) and Masters of Surgery (MCh) programmes across 156 government and private medical colleges, as well as Armed Forces Medical Service (AFMS) institutions. Last year, the exam was held on September 29 and 30. The results were declared on October 15, 2023.