New Delhi: The Tamil Nadu government has approached the Supreme Court challenging the President’s decision to withhold assent to a state legislation seeking exemption from the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET) for medical admissions.
The Tamil Nadu Admission to Undergraduate Medical Degree Courses Bill, 2021, which was unanimously passed by the state assembly, aimed to restore admission procedures based on Class 12 marks. The government said the President’s refusal, communicated through the Governor’s secretariat on March 4, was mechanical and offered no reasons, creating a constitutional impasse, Bar and Bench reported.
The suit, settled by Senior Advocate P. Wilson and filed through advocate Misha Rohatgi, argues that NEET disproportionately benefits urban, affluent, CBSE-educated students while disadvantaging underprivileged rural students, particularly those from government and Tamil-medium schools, The Hindu reported.
The plea raises questions of constitutional interpretation, including the scope of Articles 201 and 254(2), and asserts the state’s duty under Article 47 to ensure equitable access to medical education. It contends that NEET has disrupted Tamil Nadu’s educational “equilibrium” since its imposition in 2017, excluding first-generation learners and fuelling a commercialised coaching industry worth thousands of crores.
Government data shows that more than 70 per cent of MBBS admissions in Tamil Nadu post-NEET are secured by repeat candidates, while first-generation students from government schools are largely excluded.
The petition also cites the Supreme Court’s April ruling that Governor R.N. Ravi’s delays in clearing bills of the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) government were “erroneous and illegal,” affirming that governors cannot indefinitely override decisions of elected legislatures.