16-yr-old not allowed to attend NEET

The Madras High Court on Tuesday set aside the order of a single judge permitting a 16-year-old girl, who had passed her Class 12 after obtaining double promotion from Class 7 to 9 owing to her high Intelligence Quotient (IQ), to write NEET though the minimum prescribed age is 17 years.

A division bench comprising Justice Pushpa Sathyanarayana and Justice Krishnan Ramasamy set aside the single judge’s order following the appeal moved by the National Testing Agency (NTA) and the National Medical Commission (NMC).

Noting that the girl, SP Shree Harini of Kumbakonam, did not challenge the prescription of minimum age Justice Pushpa Sathyanarayana leading the bench said the girl’s prayer would tantamount to exempting her of the age prescribed, which was not possible under the regulations. Allowing her to attend NEET would lead to a torrent of similar claims flooding the courts, she added.

However, while agreeing with the dismissal of the plea, justice Krishnan Ramaswamy noted that when CBSE, which is under the Centre, has permitted her to complete Class 12 board even before turning 16, there was no justification for NMC, which also comes under the Centre, to reject her request for age relaxation.

“However, unless and otherwise the said Rule (on minimum age) is reconsidered by the NMC, this anomaly would continue,” he said, asking NMC to look at the concern of such students and come up with a solution.

The counsels appearing for the agencies had contended that the single judge had erred in allowing Shree Harini to write NEET when the regulations clearly state that candidates must have completed 17 years of age as on December 31, 2020.

Her counsel submitted that the plea had not challenged the age criteria but was only seeking an exception based on her academic brilliance, based on which the CBSE had permitted her to write the Class 12 exams.