JEE Main 2020, NEET 2020 exam dates: Supreme Court dismisses plea to postpone exams

The Supreme Court dismissed a plea by students seeking a postponement of the Joint Entrance Examination (JEE) and National Eligibility Entrance Test (NEET) that are scheduled to be held in September 2020.

SC said the postponement of the exams will put students' careers in peril. Justice Arun Mishra said that if exams are not held then the students would lose an academic year.

Justice Mishra also added that life should go on during COVID-19 and questioned how can exams be stopped.

A total of 11 students had filed a petition against conducting these examinations by the National Testing Agency (NTA).

Solicitor General Tushar Mehta appearing for NTA said that the exams will have to be conducted and that adequate precautions will be taken for conducting these tests.

JEE Main is the entrance exam for admission into engineering institutes while NEET is for entry into medical colleges.

Also Read: Here are the new dates for JEE and NEET

The petition filed by eleven students had said that conducting JEE Main 2020, JEE Advanced 2020 and NEET 2020 amidst the Coronavirus situation in India is a violation of the Right to Life of several lakh students in India.

JEE Main 2020 is to be held online from September 1 to 6 while NEET 2020 for admission to undergraduate medical courses is slated to be held offline on September 13 across 161 exam centres in India.

The petition had also stated cancellation of remaining exams for CBSE and ISC as also the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI)'s cancellation of CA exams in May and July 2020.

This is not the only case in SC with respect to conducting examinations during COVID-19. A bunch of students have filed a plea against University Grants Commission's decision to hold final-year exams amidst the virus scare. This UGC matter will come next for hearing at the apex court on August 18.