Supreme Court orders NEET PG exam to be conducted in one shift

The Supreme Court on Friday ordered the National Board of Examinations in Medical Sciences (NBE) to hold the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test Post Graduate exams (NEET PG) in one shift [Aditi and Ors v National Board of Examination in Medical Sciences and Ors]..A Bench of Justices Vikram Nath, PV Sanjay Kumar and NV Anjaria rejected NBE's argument that holding exams in one shift would create safety and security concerns due to the dearth of examination centres in the country. Instead, the Court said two shifts may lead to arbitrariness because no two question papers can ever have the same level of difficulty or ease. "We are not ready to accept that in the entire country, considering the technical advancement, the examination cannot be held in one shift," the Bench said. It further noted that the exams are more than two weeks away, and alternative arrangements can be made. "We direct the exam board to make arrangements to hold the exam in one shift... It will be open for the respondents to apply for extension of time if they find that the arrangements can’t be done by 15 June," the Court ordered. .A total of over 2.4 lakh candidates are expected to appear in the exams, which is scheduled to be held on June 15..The Court passed the order while dealing with the plea filed by a group of candidates arguing that the NEET PG was earlier conducted in one shift, but now the NBE has brought a change. They also sought disclosure of answer sheets and question papers. It was argued by the petitioners that even though the NBE says normalisation of marks would remove any variation in the difficulty level of the two shifts of exams, this process is completely opaque. The NBE countered the arguments and said that only a few students have raised questions over the exams even though more than 2.4 lakh are expected to appear. They contended that if the exams were ordered to be held in one shift now, it would disturb all the schedules. "The exam will get postponed, not by 15 days or one month. It will take more time. Under statutory regulations, we have to conduct the exams. If the centres are compromised, I will be responsible. We can’t arrange for so many centres now. We have consulted the Union and NMC [National Medical Commission]," the NBE counsel argued. Finding 900 safe centres in 15 days will be very difficult, the counsel added. .But the Bench remained unconvinced and passed the order to conduct the exam in one shift. "You burn the midnight oil and find time," it said. The Court added that the relief about the disclosure of answer sheets and question papers would be considered on July 14, when the case is heard next. .[Read live-coverage]