JEE Main, NEET 2020: SC to hear review petition by 6 states tomorrow

New Delhi: The Supreme Court will hear a review petition about the issue of deferring the NEET and JEE exams as six states have moved the apex court seeking review of its order permitting the Centre to conduct NEET and JEE entrance exams in September.

The review plea was filed by ministers from West Bengal (Moloy Ghatak), Jharkhand (Rameshwar Oraon), Rajasthan (Raghu Sharma), Chhattisgarh (Amarjeet Bhagat), Punjab (B S Sidhu) and Maharashtra (Uday Ravindra Sawant).

JEE Main exam for over 8 lakh engineering aspirants started on September 1. The National Eligibility cum Entrance Test Undergraduate, or NEET 2020, will be held on September 13.

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Wednesday said that 75% JEE Main candidates in the state could not appear for the BArch exams held on September 1 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The exams have been deferred twice in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic. The JEE-Mains was originally scheduled to be held from April 7-11, but was postponed to July 18-23. The NEET-UG was originally scheduled for May 3, but was pushed to July 26.

The ministers of six opposition-ruled states who moved the Supreme Court against its order allowing holding of NEET and JEE exams physically said it failed to secure students’ “right to life” and ignored “teething logistical difficulties” to be faced in conducting them during the COVID-19 pandemic.