New Delhi, March 15 (UNI) The Supreme Court on Friday refused to postpone the National Eligibility Entrance Test-Master of Dental Surgery (NEET-MDS) 2024 exam saying that it cannot intervene in a policy decision taken by the authorities.
"On parameters of judicial review, we think it is inappropriate to interfere at this stage. We decline to intervene in the present matter,"
A bench comprising Chief Justice of India (CJI) DY Chandrachud, Justice JB Pardiwala and Justice Manoj Misra, after hearing the Central government submission that it has extended the internship cut-off date for the NEET MDS exam from March 31, 2024, to June 30, 2024, closed an application filed by the NEET MDS aspirants seeking to reschedule the NEET MDS 2024 which is due on March 18, 2024, and to direct extension of cut-off for eligibility after revising the internship completion dates.
The Court was hearing an application filed by the NEET MDS aspirants seeking to reschedule the NEET MDS 2024 which is due on March 18, 2024. The petitioner sought a direction from the government to extend the cut-off date for eligibility after revising the internship completion dates.

Meanwhile, the Union Government informed the Court that it has extended the internship cut-off date for the NEET MDS exam from March 31, 2024, to June 30, 2024.
The Government also informed the court that the exam will take place on Monday (March 18). The Union also stated that the portal for registering for the exam will be open for three days and that 568 students have registered as a result of the decision to extend the cut-off date.

Taking note of the government’s submission, the Apex Court refused to pass orders to postpone the exam from the scheduled date. The Court noted that nearly 28,000 students are appearing for the exam.
The matter pertains to, a notification by which the National Board of Examinations (NBE), announced the rescheduling of NEET PG 2024 from March 3 to July 7, 2024, setting the cut-off date as August 15, 2024.
In contrast, NEET MDS was notified on January 20, 2024, to take place on March 18, 2024, with an internship completion cutoff date of March 31, 2024. The petitioners alleged that the cut-off date is "arbitrary".
Senior Advocate Colin Gonsalves, appearing for the petitioners, pressed for the postponement of the exam, stressing that the students are only halfway through the clinical course. He referred to the 2023 order of the Telangana High Court which stated that there should be a uniform cut-off date across the country.
"For next academic year, every effort will be taken to ensure all the candidates who have completed the MBBS/BDS course are made eligible and every opportunity will be given to the students to prepare for the examination and take up the examination, therefore the question of postponing the NEET P.G./NEET-MDS examination would not arise," the High Court had observed.
Leaving out 8000 students who have not finished their course is unjust," Gonsalves argued.
Advocate Gaurav Sharma appearing on behalf of the NDC submitted that the exam schedule for dental courses was affected due to COVID-19 and a conscious effort is being made to bring the schedule back on rails by the Commission.
The Court also noted in its order, "We are unable to subscribe to the submission that there should be parity between in NEET-MDS and NEET PG".
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