Supreme Court will hear today a review petition filed by six cabinet ministers from six states against the August 17 order dismissing pleas to postpone JEE, NEET exams scheduled in September. Filed through advocate Sunil Fernandes, the petition states that the court order fails to “secure the safety, security and Right to Life of the Students/Candidates appearing for the JEE, NEET exams.”
The plea will come up at 1.30 pm today before Justices Ashok Bhushan, Bhushan Gavai and Krishna Murari. The hearing will be “in chamber” private hearing and not in an open-court. Only judges will be present. No lawyer will be allowed to attend or argue. The judges will either dismiss the review petition today or list it before open court for arguments, at any date after today.
Earlier on August 17, a bench comprising Justices Arun Mishra, BR Gavai and Krishna Murari had dismissed the writ petitions. As Justice Arun Mishra retired on Wednesday, the matter will be heard by a bench headed by Justice Ashok Bhushan.
The petitioners mentioned that the apex court “ignore the teething logistical difficulties in conducting the exams at the proposed dates” and “failed to balance the competing but equally important aspects of conducting the examination and security safety of the students.”
The review petition was filed in the apex court by West Bengal minister Moloy Ghatak, Jharkhand minister Rameshwar Oraon, Rajasthan minister Raghu Sharma, Chhattisgarh minister Amarjeet Bhagat, Punjab minister BS Sidhu and Maharashtra minister Uday Ravindra Sawant.
The review plea also said that the August 17 order is “cryptic, non-speaking” and does not discuss various aspects and complexities involved in the matter of this magnitude.
