NEET-PG 2023 exam to be held on 5th March, Supreme Court dismisses postponement request

On February 27, 2023, the Supreme Court dismissed the petition seeking postponement of the NEET-PG 2023 exam by three months which is scheduled on March 5, 2023. The petition was filed by doctors who are aspirants of the NEET-PG 2023 exam claiming that they are getting less time for exam preparation because their internships are ongoing. The case was presented before the Supreme Court bench comprising Justice Dipankar Datta and Justice S. Ravindra Bhat. In the previous hearing on February 24, 2023, the matter was posted for today (February 27, 2023) so as to get a response from the NBE (National Board of Examinations) for the same. The Supreme Court then stated that “For those who are waiting for this, it is really a mental torture...When we postpone a judicial exam, there is agony for the candidates who are preparing for it. The whole dynamics change.”

During the hearing, the Additional Solicitor General (ASG) appearing for the NBE, Aishwarya Bhati, stated that the demand to postpone the NEET-PG 2023 exam was only by a minority of aspirants. He added that “In the first window, nearly 2.3 lakh students applied. Only 6 thousand students applied after the internship deadline was extended.” ASG further highlighted that July 15, 2023, was the date identified by the NBE for commencing counseling. Further, he stated that “Candidates who are yet to complete their internship will dealt on a case-by-case scenario later.” ASG Aishwarya Bhati also stated that the admit cards for the exam are available for download as well as out of 17 petitioners, 10 have already completed their internships last year.

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The petitioners also argued, "If NBE had directly released the cut-off date when the information bulletin was released in January 2023, there would have been no issues. How can a candidate who got permission to apply barely 25 days prior to the examination be equal to the candidates who had permission to apply 60 days prior to the examination.” Herein, two sets of petitions were filed by the Advocate-on-Record Ms. Charu Mathur and Mr. Milind Kumar seeking the NEET-PG 2023 exam postponement which were quashed by the Supreme Court today.

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