MBBS doctors reach Supreme Court against AIIMS INI CET 2021 exam

A group of 23 MBBS doctors has filed a petition before the Supreme Court in this regard and has sought the postponement of the exam citing that the decision of conducting exam with notice only 19 days before the exam contradicts the Prime Minister's earlier announcement postponing the NEET-PG examination.

Further citing that conducting the examination amidst the pandemic would endanger the lives of the candidates, the plea stated, "The conducting of this examination is resulting in endangering the life of thousands of doctors who are frontline workers in different hospitals which is a clear negation of Article 21 of the Constitution of India."

This comes after a recent notice by AIIMS informing about the rescheduled date for the Online Examination for July 2021 session with respect to PG medical admissions into MD, MS, DM (6 years), MCh, and MDS courses. More than 80,000 candidates are set to appear for the examination for around 800 seats.

INI CET is conducted to admit medical students in several postgraduate courses in 11 prominent medical institutions including AIIMS, New Delhi, and Jawaharlal Institute of Postgraduate Medical Education and Research, Puducherry (JIPMER).

The examination, that was earlier scheduled to be held on May 8, was rescheduled to be conducted on June 17.

Also Read: Doctors Demand Postponement of INICET Exam

Medical Dialogues had earlier reported that the decision, however, did not go down well with the aspirants and they started demanding for the postponement of the exam while pointing out that CBSE Class 12 board examinations and NEET PG examinations have been canceled or postponed amidst the pandemic.

Associations of doctors including the Federation of All India Medical Association (FAIMA), National Students' Union of India (NSUI) had written to the Prime Minister and AIIMS authorities seeking postponement of the exam, or at least a notice period of a minimum of one month before the examination.

As per the latest media report by Live Law, one among the group of doctors who have filed the petition is suffering from COVID-19 and is battling with the disease in ICU. The plea mentioned that the notification to conduct INICET on June 16 contradicts the PMO's announcement to postpone NEET-PG examination till August 31.

Earlier, a release by PMO had previously stated "A decision was taken to postpone NEET-PG for at least 4 months & the exam will not be held before 31st August 2021. Students will also be given at least one month of time after the announcement of the exam before it is conducted. This will make a large number of qualified doctors available for Covid duties."

The petition further pointed out that many of the doctors were not fully vaccinated and some of them even have not received the first dose. It also referred to the instances of postponing Class 10 and 12 exams of various boards like CBSE, ICSE, and others amidst the pandemic.

The petitioners also expressed their concern regarding the examination centers, which are not same as the candidate's place of work in many cases and could result in problems for the candidates to reach their respective center amidst travel restrictions.

However, the doctors have clarified that they are not against writing the examination but only have objections of the exam being conducted on June 16. Contending that AIIMS comes within the definition of "state" under Article 12 of the Constitution and hence a writ petition under Article 32 is maintainable against it, the plea sought directions upon AIIMS to postpone the INICET examination considering the Covid situation.

"In the prevailing circumstances due to COVID-19, the conducting of this examination is resulting in building up pressure on the graduate doctors from across India to sit for the examination on 16th June 2021, when under the present circumstances the Board examinations (Central Board of Secondary Education 10th and 12th Grade) and other professional examinations have been either canceled or postponed," the petition stated, as reported by Bar and Bench.

The plea further mentioned, "...interference of the court is warranted because the students who have filled up the form but are treating COVID-19 patients on a daily basis and therefore are at a huge risk of contracting COVID-19and thereby ousted from taking the examination".