Former chief justice RM Lodha said there is a "dearth of doctors in the country".
While there have been contrasting opinions on age limit and number of attempts for the National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test (NEET), a Supreme Court appointed panel has turned down the Union government's move to put a cap on it.
According to a Hindustan Times report, former chief justice RM Lodha, who is heading the panel, said there is a "dearth of doctors in the country" as a result of which government's order for cap on age of students and the number of attempts should not be executed.
The provisions of government directive were made on the recommendations of Medical Council of India (MCI) and issued in January. As per the order, candidates have to be below the age of 25 and can appear for NEET only thrice.
Supreme Court will be taking up Lodha panel recommendations on March 20. In case the apex court accepts the suggestions, Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) will have to rework the applications process that closed on March 1.
Earlier in February, the Allahabad High Court had sought reply from the MCI, the Centre and the CBSE on the procedure adopted for setting of the upper age limit for NEET 2017. This order was passed by a division bench in Lucknow comprising justices Amreshwar Pratap Sahi and Sanjay Harkauli on two writ petitions filed by Navaneet Tripathi and 22 others.
The petitions raised a common question relating to the issue of upper age limit of 25 years prescribed for NEET, 2017, scheduled to be conducted on May 7. The contention on behalf of the petitioners was that the said upper age limit is not supported by any appropriate regulation or procedure prescribed by the regulations framed under the MCI Act.
It was also submitted that the introduction of this upper age limit, which was not there earlier, being not in conformity with law, deserves to be struck down. The counsels for the Centre and the MCI produced some documents related to prescribing upper age limit in NEET.
(With PTI inputs)
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