New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Monday sought response from Centre and Medical Council of India (MCI) on a plea by a batch of students challenging 2018 MCI regulation prescribing the upper age limit of 25 years for those appearing in NEET for admission to undergraduate medical courses – MBBS and BDS.
While for students belonging to general category, the age limit for appearing in NEET is 25, for SC/ST, OBC and handicapped it is 30 years.
Seeking response on the petition challenging the Delhi HC order dismissing the challenge to the regulation prescribing an upper-age limit, the vacation bench directed the listing of matter of July 10 for further hearing. The students have challenged the Delhi High Court’s May 11 judgment upholding the regulation prescribing the upper-age limit.
Assailing the High court judgment, the petitioners have contended that MCI while framing the regulations did not carry out any study to show that permitting persons above certain age to study medical courses would, in any way, lower the standards of medical education.
They also argued that thee MCI has not given the reasons for fixing the upper age limit and same were based on “hearsay”, not on any factual study of the situation which is required from an expert body such as MCI.