Under-17 candidates not eligible for NEET, says HC

Chandigarh, The Punjab and Haryana High Court has ruled that a candidate taking the National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test (NEET) for admission to MBBS/BDS courses without attaining the age of 17 would only be exhausting a chance.
The High Court was hearing a petition filed against the Union Government and other respondents by a minor, Kuldeep Singh Malik, through his father Ranbir Singh Malik. The petitioner had challenged a condition which said the candidate must have completed 17 years at the time of admission or by December 31, 2017.
The Bench of Justice Rakesh Kumar Jain was told that no minimum age had been prescribed in the Indian Medical Council Act, 1956, and the Rules made therein. His counsel added that the petitioner would turn 17 in February 2018.
The Bench, on a previous date of hearing, had allowed the petitioner to fill the online/manual application for NEET-2017 (held on May 7), subject to the outcome of the present petition.
Appearing for the Union Government, advocate Puneet Gupta said the minimum age of 17 years was prescribed under Regulations 4(1) of the Medical Council of India Regulation on Graduate Medical Education, 1997.
Referring to a decision by a Division Bench of the Allahabad High Court in the case of “Ankit Chaturvedi versus the Union of India and others”, Gupta contended that a similar controversy had already been resolved and the vires of the said regulation had been upheld.
The counsel for the petitioner pleaded that he be allowed to withdraw the petition and avail three chances to appear in NEET. The chance availed by the petitioner, under the court order, may not be counted, he said.
Gupta submitted that the petitioner could not be given three chances as one chance had been availed by misleading the court.
Justice Jain said the petitioner’s case was based on the premise that there was no provision for the minimum age of 17 for appearing in NEET-2017.
“The contention of the petitioner is totally fallacious… there is no merit in the present petition and the same is hereby dismissed. It is also ordered that since one chance, under the order of this court, by misrepresenting the facts has already been availed by the petitioner, he can avail two chances more… the result of the first attempt need not be declared because he was underage,” Justice Jain concluded.