Srinagar
The Supreme Court has come out in favour of the plaintiff, quashing the requirement and ruling that the Aadhaar details are not compulsory for any all-India level examination. The apex court today directed the CBSE not to make Aadhaar number mandatory for enrolment of students appearing for the NEET 2018 examination and other all-India level exams, reports claimed.
A report published by media outlet Times Now said that a five-judge constitutional bench headed by Chief Justice Dipak Misra directed the CBSE to upload the information on their website. Earlier in the day, UIDAI had told the apex court that it has not authorised the CBSE to mandatorily take Aadhaar numbers of students to get themselves enrolled for the NEET 2018 examination attempt.
Attorney General K K Venugopal had said he has instructions from the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) that as in Jammu and Kashmir, Meghalaya and Assam other identity proofs like passport, voter card and ration card can be used by the CBSE for enrolling the students for the examination. The UIDAI’s remarks came on a plea challenging the decision of the CBSE seeking mandatorily the Aadhaar number or the Aadhaar enrolment number from students who are aspiring to take up the NEET 2018 examination. The Gujarat High Court had dismissed the plea on February 27. The appeal in Supreme Court challenges the order of the Gujarat High Court, a report by Times Now said.
The plea was filed by Abid Ali Patel, a resident of Gujarat. Earlier in February, the CBSE made the Aadhar number mandatory for the NEET application for this year. The examination for the NEET 2018 admission to undergraduate medical and dental courses is scheduled to be held on May 6. The Aadhaar number has been made compulsory for all candidates except those from Assam, Jammu and Kashmir and Meghalaya. Sources speculate that the cancellation of the Aadhaar card clause may further force CBSE to extend the date of filling the NEET 2018 application forms. The NEET 2018 application forms close on 9 March 2018. At present, however, there is no confirmation. Updates for the same would be made available as and when available, reported Times Now.
