Supreme Court of India is likely to hear the case for the postponement of National Eligibility cum Entrance Test or NEET 2020 and JEE Main 2020 examination. Earlier it was set for August 14 but has been set for August 17, 2020. The case would be presented to a three-judge bench of Hon'ble Justice Arun Mishra, Justice B.R. Gavai and Justice Krishna Murari. The plea has been filed by 11 students from across the country to cancel the September exam dates and postpone JEE Main 2020, NEET 2020 and JEE Advanced 2020 examination till the time the situation normalizes. 

Meanwhile, students are actively seeking a response from the Ministry of Education (erstwhile MHRD) as well as National Testing Agency on the matter. Taking to the social media platform Twitter, students and supporters are tweeting #SOPCantSaveJEE_NEET. This is in response to the statements made earlier that SOPs would be released for the safe conduct of the examination.

The advocate for the petitioners, Mr Alakh Alok has tweeted confirming that the case may be heard tomorrow. He has also shared that they are trying to move the matter as urgent and confirmation of the same would be available at 6 pm today.

As for the reason for urgency, it is indeed the impending release of the JEE Main 2020 admit card. It is worth pointing out that UPSC has already released the admit card for the UPSC NDA, NA 2020 Examination.  As per the official information shared by NTA, JEE Main 2020 admit card is expected to be released online 15 days prior to the examinations – which would be around August 15 or 16 as exams are scheduled to begin from September 1, 2020.

Case for Postponing NEET, JEE 2020 Exams

Students are contending that the situation is not conducive for conducting entrance examinations. As many as 11 lakh students have registered for the JEE Main 2020 examination. Around 14 to 16 lakh students have registered for NEET examination. Students have pointed out that large groups would make them susceptible to infection as Coronavirus cases continue to increase at a rapid pace in the country.

Case Against postponing NEET, JEE 2020 Exams

Countering the stand, the parents association has pointed out that already the delay of 4 months has caused the grievous loss of the academic year and further delay would be detrimental. The parents have also pointed out that constant delay in the examination has an adverse effect on the mental health of the students.