Madras HC sets aside earlier order allowing 16-yr-old for NEET

The National Testing Agency has fixed 17 years as the minimum prescribed age to appear for NEET. Earlier, a single judge bench had permitted a 16-year-old girl, who had cleared her Class 12 after obtaining double promotion from Class 7 to 9 owing to her high IQ, to write NEET

Chennai: The Madras High Court on Tuesday set aside the order of a single judge bench permitting a 16-year-old girl, who had cleared her Class 12 after obtaining double promotion from Class 7 to 9 owing to her high Intelligence Quotient (IQ), to write NEET.

The National Testing Agency has fixed 17 years as the minimum prescribed age to appear for NEET.

A Division Bench of the Madras High Court comprising Justices Pushpa Sathyanarayana and Krishnan Ramasamy held that courts could not interfere in the criteria prescribed by the National Medical Commission (NMC) and National Testing Agency (NTA) and order relaxations. They agreed with senior counsel G. Rajagopalan, representing NTA, that a certain level of maturity was required to join medical courses.

Petitioner student, SP. Shree Harini, of Kumbakonam was born on May 4, 2005. 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.