GATE 2022: SC agrees to hear pleas seeking postponement of exam due to Covid
Premium- The GATE 2022 is scheduled to be held on February 5, 6, 12 and 13
GATE 2022: The Supreme Court (SC) has agreed to hear the plea seeking postponement of the Graduate Aptitude Test in Engineering Exam, 2022 (GATE 2022) in the wake of third wave of Covid, news agency ANI reported on Wednesday.
Two petitions have been filed seeking postpone of the GATE 2022 examination due to Covid.
The pleas said that the country is currently suffering from a 'third wave' of rising Covid cases with a number of daily cases touching a record 3 lakh and above. "In this frightening situation that has engulfed the whole country, the Petitioners are being forced to write the GATE 2022 physically which poses a massive health risk on the lives of many aspirants like the petitioners," they stated.
The petitioners have also challenged the January 15 instructions issued by the Centre saying they lack clarity, create confusion among students becuase they create an unnecessary classification between students who will be allowed to appear for the exam and those who would be barred with no medical or legal basis.
"The instructions allow asymptomatic students who are showing symptoms to appear for the exam but not those students who have tested positive but are asymptomatic. There exists no intelligible differentia in such classification by the Respondents as per instructions and thus it is violative of Article 14 of the Constitution of India," the pleas stated.
Further, they said the instructions incentivize students who might be showing symptoms of Covid to not get tested as a positive test will bar them from appearing for the exam.
On the contrary, the instructions allow students who are showing symptoms to appear for the exam but have not tested positive for Covid.
"This classification is absurd and self-contradictory, and defeats the resolve of the Government to test maximum people for proper tracing and treatment," the pleas added.
The GATE 2022 is scheduled to be held on February 5, 6, 12 and 13.
Appearing for petitioners, advocate Pallav Mongia mentioned the matter for urgent hearing of the case. A Bench of Chief Justice of India NV Ramana, Justices AS Bopanna and Hima Kohli will list the matter for hearing, according to ANI.
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