New Delhi: Cabinet Ministers from Six States have approached the Supreme Court, seeking review of its August 17, order allowing the central government to conduct NEET-JEE exams.
The petition has been filed through Advocate Sunil Fernandes said that the Supreme Court order fails to “secure the safety, security and Right to Life of the Students/Candidates appearing for the NEET/JEE exams”.
The petitioners have sought a review of the apex court’s order of August 17, seeking postponement of the proposed NEET/JEE examinations, in a manner that achieves the twin objectives of ensuring that the academic year of the students (2020-2021) is not wasted and their health and safety is not compromised.
This Review Petition is filed against the order dated 17.08.2020 of the Supreme Court, whereby the central government was permitted to conduct NEET and JEE exams. There are six petitioners, from the six different states, who have filed in their individual capacities.
Petitioner No. 1: Moloy Ghatak, Minister-in-Charge, Department of Labour & E.S.I. (MB) Scheme and Departments of Law & Judicial, Government of West Bengal.
Petitioner No. 2: Dr. Rameshwar Oraon, Cabinet Minister of Finance, Government of Jharkhand.
Petitioner No. 3: Dr. Raghu Sharma, Cabinet Minister of Health and Family Welfare, Government of Rajasthan.
Petitioner No. 4: Shri Amarjeet Bhagat, Minister of Food, Civil supplies, Culture, Planning, Economics & Statistics, Government of Chhattisgarh.
Petitioner No. 5: Shri Balbir Singh Sidhu, Cabinet Minister Health and Family Welfare & Labour, Government of Punjab.
Petitioner No. 6: Shri Uday Ravindra Samant, Minister of Higher and Technical Education, Government of Maharashtra.
The main grounds on which the review against the Supreme Court order has been sought is that it fails to:
· Secure the safety, security and Right to Life of the students/candidates appearing for the NEET/JEE exams.
· Has ignored the teething logistical difficulties in conducting the examinations at the proposed dates.
· Failed to balance the competing but equally important aspects of conducting the examination and securing safety of the students.
· Fails to ensure that mandatory safeguards are put in place during the conduct of the examinations.
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The petitioners have submitted that if the Impugned Order is not reviewed then:
“grave and irreparable harm and injury would befall on the student community of our country and not only will the health, welfare and safety of the students/candidates appearing for the NEET/JEE examinations would stand imperiled but also the public health at large would be in severe jeopardy in these COVID-19 pandemic times“.
It has further been submitted that
“The Union Government had adequate time to make comprehensive preparations for the safe and successful conduct of the examinations. However, the intervening months from April to September 2020 were characterized by inaction, confusion, lethargy and inertia. Now the Union Government has suddenly woken up to realize that their inertia is going to cost lacs of students their academic year and therefore as a knee-jerk reaction, the Union Government has haphazardly and hurriedly fixed the dates of the examinations which remedy will prove to be worse than the disease itself“.
-India Legal Bureau