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Supreme Court Agrees to Hear Plea to Postpone GATE 2022
The Supreme Court on Wednesday has agreed to hear the plea seeking the postponement of the Graduate Aptitude Test in Engineering Exam (GATE) due to the third wave of Coronavirus. There are two petitions which have been filed requesting postponement of the GATE 2022 exam. The pleas' said that the country is currently facing a third wave where the cases are reaching the figure of 3 lakh and above per day. The petition stated that “in this frightening situation which has affected the whole country differently, the petitioners are being forced to appear for the exam physically which exposes them in front of massive health risk on the lives of many aspirants like the petitioners”
The central govt's instruction on the exam has also been challenged in the court stating the reason that it has created unnecessary confusion between students who will be allowed to appear for the exam and who will be barred and it has no legal or medical basis.The plea stated that the instruction has allowed those students to appear for the exam who are showing symptoms but not those who have been tested positive but are asymptomatic. There is no intelligible differentia in this classification and is a violation of Article 14 of the Constitution of India. Further, the instruction included a point that states that those students who are showing symptoms do not get Covid tested as the positive test will stop them from appearing for the exam.
The instruction has allowed the students who are showing symptoms to appear for the exam but have not tested positive for Covid. The plea further stated that “the classification made is absurd and self-contradictory, and defeats the resolution of the government to test maximum people for proper tracing and treatment.” The GATE 2022 is scheduled to be held on the 5th, 6th, 12th, and 13th of February. According to ANI, the advocate appearing for the petitioner, Pallav Mongia mentioned the matter for urgent hearing of the case. A bench consisting of Chief Justice of India NV Ramana, Justice AS Bopanna, and Justice Hima Kohli will list the matter for hearing.
The GATE exam is an important exam conducted every year and many aspirants appear for the exam. This year the situations are different and conflicting instructions of the Central government have made it even more controversial. In this matter two petitions have been filed, one on the behalf of the students/candidates. Another petition has been filed by one Umesh Dhande who runs a coaching institute and mentors the GATE aspirants.
The petition mentions the fact that many states have postponed their exams in light of the third wave of the coronavirus. It is pertinent to note that country is facing the third wave where the daily count of cases is increasing daily. It demands the postponement of the exam due to the third wave. The students are expected of getting exposed to the danger of the virus. The Supreme Court will list the matter for hearing very soon.
