The Supreme Court on Wednesday has issued a notice to the Medical Council of India (MCI) in a plea to conduct National Eligibility Cum Entrance Test (NEET) 2020 in the middle east and other Gulf countries for the benefit of Indian medical aspirants living overseas.

The Bench headed by Justices L Nageswara Rao, S Ravindra Bhat, and Hemant Gupta issued a notice in the petition filed by the parents of  NEET 2020  Aspirants who are settled in Middle Eastern Countries like Qatar.

Similar Plea Dismissed by Kerala High Court Earlier

The Petition before the Supreme Court Challenged the Kerala High Court’s dismissal of a plea seeking the setting up of  NEET Test Centers  overseas or alternatively, postponement of the exam until COVID-19 pandemic ends. The High Court had rejected the plea saying that it cannot issue directions to MCI and NTA as they were expert bodies in their respective fields and knew how to conduct the entrance exams. 

Travelling Restrictictions faced by NEET Aspirants

In the plea filed in the Supreme Court, by Advocate Haris Beeran and Pallavi Pratap on behalf of parents of NEET Aspirants, the petitioner has said the approx 4000 candidates from Qatar and the Middle-East countries are facing trouble in travel and arranging other things to appear for NEET 2020 exam. 

And due to the wide-spread COVID-19, many students are finding it difficult to travel internationally. So in light of this development, the plea urges the court to direct the Central Government to allocate more test cities in the region or postpone the exam until the situation gets conducive. 

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