india

Updated: Apr 29, 2020 18:58 IST

The National Eligibility Entrance Test, or NEET, the single entrance exam for all medical colleges, will apply to minority institutions providing medical courses, the Supreme Court ordered on Wednesday.

The top court ruled that there would be no exception to the law that lays down uniform entrance exams for all graduate and post graduate medical courses.

“The rights available under Article 30 (of the Constitution which secures the right of religious and linguistic minorities to run educational institutions) are not violated by provisions carved out in Section 10D of the MCI Act (Medical Council of India Act) and the Dentists Act and Regulations framed by MCI/DCI,” the three-judge bench comprising justices Arun Mishra, Vineet Saran and MR Shah.

As a single entrance examination to medical and dental colleges, NEET was first introduced in 2013. But this exam was scrapped by the Supreme Court within a few months. A five-judge bench of the Supreme Court revisited this verdict and restored it in 2016.

Over 15.9 lakh students have registered for this year’s entrance exam to study medicine across the country.

Christian Medical College, Vellore, which used to hold its own entrance exam, had challenged the NEET route for admissions, arguing that it violated the institution’s minority rights enshrined under Article 30.

The institute had insisted that its selection process was designed to select candidates who would be willing to serve in the country’s rural areas, not just cities. For this reason, it said, they had heavily subsidised the medical course.

The three-judge bench, however, reasoned that NEET was introduced for better administration in view of several instances of maladministration by several private colleges.

“The regulatory measures are intended for the proper functioning of institutions and to ensure that the standard of education is maintained and does not fall low under the guise of an exclusive right of management to the extent of maladministration,” the judges ruled.

In its verdict, the bench led by Justice Arun Mishra also set aside challenges to NEET by private medical colleges, deemed universities, and state governments who wanted to hold their own entrance tests for admission to MBBS and BDS courses.