PIL in Madras High Court against "false promises" by DMK-led Tamil Nadu Govt on NEET

A public interest litigation (PIL) petition has been moved in the Madras High Court seeking compensation for students adversely affected by the false promises made by the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) led State government regarding the cancellation of the National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test (NEET) in Tamil Nadu. (KS Vetrivel v. State of Tamil Nadu and ors).The petition moved by one, KS Vetrivel, further calls for directions to stop State government authorities from making any further public statement regarding the cancellation or anticipated cancellation of NEET until the petition is decided. ."It is high time that the present Government stop making false promises to innocent students, stop making any public announcements in the Legislative Assembly by the Government as well as the representatives of DMK with regard to scraping of NEET which stops creating false hopes among the medical aspirants till a conclusive and viable solution is arrived at finally", the petitioner has contended. .It is recounted that the DMK and its representatives, including Chief Minister MK Stalin and his son and MLA Udayanithi Stalin, had been assuring people of the State that once the DMK-government is formed, a total ban on NEET would follow along with a separate State Education Policy. .This was done despite knowing that the validity of NEET was upheld by the Supreme Court, it is argued. .It is recounted that Chief Minister Stalin had also constituted an expert committee to study the impact of NEET and the further that the Education Minister publicly announced that the present government was keen to scrap NEET. .These moves created wide confusion as well as a legitimate expectation that NEET would not be conducted in the present academic year, the petitioner submitted. ."The student community were given a clear assurance by the present Chief Minister and the members of the Ruling Party that the first signature of the newly formed Government after May 7th 2021 would be to scrap NEET Examination", the petitioner recalled. .While so, the petitioner highlighted a "shocking announcement" made by the State Health Minister, Ma Subramanian that while DMK's stance on scrapping NEET is final, it did not have the "legal support", that it was "fighting in court to get it scrapped" and that "students need to take their NEET lessons."."... this announcement came as a rude shock to the entire student community and several students were very disturbed mentally and psychologically due to the sudden change of the stand of the Government. This in turn created extreme stress among the medical aspirants due to the false statements made by the present Government", the petitioner said. .In this backdrop, the petitioner highlighted that many medical aspirants in Tamil Nadu have died by suicide over the years due to stress they are undergoing. .When the students were asked to prepare for NEET suddenly from July, they did not have the mental strength to prepare for the examination in a short span of two months, the petitioner said. It was further noted that due to enormous stress, three students had died by suicide this year as well, for which the present government is solely responsible..Had the present Government not made any promise about abolishing NEET and given an assurance only after working out the legal modalities then it would have paved way for students to have rigorously prepared for the NEET, the petitioner submitted. ."In the event if NEET was able to be abolished or if Tamil Nadu State can be exempted in the year 2022 or the succeeding year, then it would have been a huge relief to the students", the petition stated further..In the course of the petition, reliance is also placed on the Delhi High Court single-Judge ruling in Najma v. Government of NCT, Delhi wherein the Court had stated that promises made by the Chief Minster to the public is enforeceable since it creates a legitimate expectation in the minds of the public. ."It is the bounden duty of these high ranking functionaries or Ministers, MP’s and MLAs to make realistic and truthful promises and not make fallacious and impossible promises that too at the cost of affecting young children who are yet to understand the implications", the petitioner argued further. .On these grounds, the petitioner has made the following prayers before the High Court:The DMK-led State government should compensate the families of students who took their own life by paying an amount of Rs.1 crore. Further it is prayed that Rs. 5 lakhs should be paid as compensation by the State for students undergoing the stress, depression or whose mental health has been affected by the DMK government's promises on NEET.The Court has also been urged to restrain the State government and the DMK from making any further reckless and baseless statements for political mileage regarding the cancellation or anticipated cancellation of NEET until the present petition is disposed of.."... if the Government and the members of the DMK party continue to make such false assurances regarding NEET examination, the confusion in the minds of the students would deepen and the same would hamper the preparation of the students to face the next NEET examination", the petition stated. .The matter is listed tomorrow before a Bench headed by Justice M Duraiswamy. The petitioner will be represented by Advocate Naveen Kumar..On a related note, the Madras High Court recently dismissed a challenge to the constitution of the committee to study the impact of NEET on socially backward students, opining that it is not an act of defiance to any order passed of the Supreme Court or even the remotest challenge to the authority of the Union government..A PIL challenging the transfer of "education" from the list of "State" subjects to the list of "concurrent" subjects in the Constitution is pending before the High Court, which has issued notice in the matter. In an implied reference to a Bill introduced by the State to exempt Tamil Nadu from NEET, the Court had also orally noted that the case may assume some relevance since allied issues were raised in the Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly. .Meanwhile, a Division Bench of the Delhi High Court recently passed an order of interim stay on the single-Judge ruling that had stated that promises made by the Chief Minister to the public are enforceable.