Supreme Court Junks Plea Challenging Anti-NEET Signature Campaign

New Delhi: The Public Interest Litigation (PIL) that challenged the signature campaign against the National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test (NEET) exams has now been Supreme Court.

Dravida Munnetra Khazagam (DMK), the ruling party in Tamil Nadu State, reportedly organized this signature campaign against the centralized common entrance test NEET for admission to undergraduate and postgraduate medical courses.

Rejecting the PIL, the Supreme Court bench comprising Justices Surya Kant and KV Viswanathan observed, "We have heard the petitioner in person at a considerable length. We are of the considered opinion that this is not a fit case to invoke the jurisdiction under Article 32 of the Constitution of India. We therefore decline to entertain this wit petition."

Although the counsel for the petitioner argued that the students may end up distressed as a result of the campaign, as they may have to face NEET tomorrow, the top court bench noted, "fortunately now we have a very informed generation…our children are not so innocent… they are far ahead of our generation, so they understand everything…that what is the motive, what is the agenda…"

Further, the Apex Court clarified that the common medical entrance test NEET is a competitive exam and it has to be held on pan-India basis. Therefore, it will not be affected by the campaign, opined the Apex Court.

Last year, Medical Dialogues had reported that Tamil Nadu Sports Minister and Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) leader Udhayanidhi Stalin had also participated in the 'signature campaign' against NEET examination. In this regard, the son of Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin observed that DMK plans to get lakhs of signatures in 50 days against the NEET examination.

Also Read: TN: Signature campaign against NEET Exam gathers momentum

As per the latest media report by Live Law, the PIL was filed by Advocate ML Ravi, who argued that even though NEET exams have been allowed by the Supreme Court, DMK was organizing the signature campaign in schools. The plea alleged that during the campaign, school students were being tutored against the NEET exam and they were made to put their signatures. It was also alleged that the concerned exercise was initiated without taking the due permission from the parents of the students.

The PIL highlighted that under Article 19 of the Constitution, any citizen or political party may protest and have the freedom of expression. However, such a right cannot be advanced at schools and with students who do not have voting rights. The PIL argued that such political activity should not be allowed within the school campuses.

Further, the plea expressed concern that the concerned campaign could distress students who have to face NEET exams, and therefore, DMK, the ruling party. should not be given the undue advantage of entering the school campuses to get signature of students against NEET. Further, the PIL mentioned that the campaign had the effect of roping in school students into a political activity.

"We have heard the petitioner in-person at a considerable length. We are of the considered opinion that this is not a fit case to invoke our jurisdiction under Article 32 of the Constitution of India. We, therefore, decline to entertain this writ petition," observed the top court bench as it dismissed the PIL.

NEET in Tamil Nadu:

NEET was introduced in India as a centralized test for admitting medical students at both undergraduate and postgraduate levels. However, since its inception, Tamil Nadu has been protesting against the same as after the test was introduced more than a dozen students of underprivileged social backgrounds committed suicide. These students belonging to remote areas were unable to access the necessary resources for clearing the entrance examination.