NEET 2017: Supreme Court denies exemption for Tamil Nadu, directs govt to finish counselling by 4 September

In a setback to Tamil Nadu, the Supreme Court on Tuesday said medical colleges in the state will have to use National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET) as the only basis for admissions. The apex court also asked the state to finish counselling by 4 September.

SC says medical colleges in Tamil Nadu will have to use National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET) as the only basis for admissions. pic.twitter.com/lE7wBxYjjI

— ANI (@ANI) August 22, 2017

Supreme Court asks the Tamil Nadu government to start counselling immediately & finish by 4th September

— ANI (@ANI) August 22, 2017

Furthermore, the Centre has also backed out of the Tamil Nadu NEET ordinance, saying other states have conducted admissions on the basis of the centralised examination.

On 17 August, the Supreme Court had said that there could be no “compromise on intellect”, as it ordered status quo on admissions to undergraduate medical courses in Tamil Nadu.

The court had put on hold counselling for admissions for MBBS and BDS seats in Tamil Nadu until 22 August, and asked MCI and the state government to find a “balanced” solution to deal with the interests of state board students and those who cleared NEET.

“You can’t compromise on intellect,” said the bench of Justice Dipak Misra, Justice Amitava Roy and Justice AM Khanwilkar.

They also denied the state government’s plea of accommodating students from “rural backgrounds” who didn’t make the cut.

“You can’t compromise on intellect. You say you want to adjust students (who are) not good. No,” Justice Misra said, further adding, “Our motto has to be whatever we say or do, students who have laboured hard and appeared in NEET should not suffer.”

With inputs from agencies