The court upheld the eligibility criteria requiring candidates to clear the NEET UG Examination for admission to B.Sc. (Nursing) course, emphasizing that the change in the pattern for selection of candidates was justified and the differences in courses and preparation made by the appellants were irrelevant.

ORDER

1. The present appeal is directed against the order dated 06.05.2022 passed by the learned Single Judge in W.P.(C) No. 7067/ 2022. The learned Single Judge has dismissed the said writ petition preferred by the petitioners by placing reliance upon the earlier decision dated 04.05.2022 in W.P.(C) 6834/2022, titled Saloni Yadav & Ors. vs. Union of India & Ors.

2. The challenge in the writ petition raised by the petitioners/ appellants was to the introduction of the condition that the candidates desirous of pursuing B.Sc. (Nursing) course should clear the NEET UG-2022 Examination to be eligible for admission in the said course for the academic session 2022-23.

3. The submission of the appellants was that the course on which the NEET UG-2022 Examination was premised was different from the course on which the competitive examination for B.Sc. (Nursing) has been held over the years. The submission was that for the NEET UG Examination, the weightage is not given as much to English language and General Intelligence, as it is to Science subjects. The appellants claimed that the appellants had been preparing for a year for the B.Sc. (Nursing) Examination on the basis of the syllabus prescribed in the said course, and suddenly was visited with the advertisement issued by the respondents laying the condition that the candidate had to clear the NEET UG Examination, 2022. The advertisement was issued on 26.04.2022 laying down the aforesaid condition.

4. The learned Single Judge, has followed her own earlier decision in Saloni Yadav (supra) dated 04.05.2022. In that case, the petitioner had assailed the same stipulation in relation to the MNS for the same academic session 2022-23 on similar grounds. The writ petition preferred by Saloni Yadav was dismissed after noticing that the candidates had been given sufficient notice to prepare for the NEET UG Examination, since the same has been fixed for 17.07.2022, whereas, the stipulation laid down for appearance and clearance of NEET UG Examination was laid down in advertisement dated 26.04.2022. The learned Single Judge also noticed that the overall merit for the said examination was to be drawn not only on the basis of NEET UG Examination but also on the basis of the combined performance of the candidates in the NEET examination, the CBT and the interview subject to medical fitness. The discussion found in the judgment in Saloni Yadav (supra) reads as follows:

'7. Having considered the submissions of learned counsel for the parties and perused the record, I am of the view that at the first blush, the grievance of the petitioners appears to be merited as the respondents have admittedly changed the pattern for selection of candidates for admission to B.Sc. (Nursing) only on 22.04.2022. However, what emerges is that on account of the extension granted by the NTA to apply for the NEET-UG exam and taking into account the fact that the NEET-UG exam is scheduled to be held on 17.07.2022, the petitioners and all other candidates will still get more than two months' time to prepare and appear in the NEET-UG, 2022. In these circumstances, the petitioners' plea that they will not have sufficient time to apply and prepare for NEETUG is without any merit and therefore no prejudice will be caused to the interested students to prepare for the NEET-UG exam, which is now a mandatory condition for seeking admission to B.Sc (Nursing) course.

8. In so far as the petitioners' grievance that the syllabus for the entrance test has been radically changed, I am of the considered view that once the experts in the field have taken a considered decision regarding the eligibility conditions and the subjects on which the prospective candidates for admission to the B. Sc (Nursing) course should be tested, this Court ought not to interfere with the same unless it is found to be totally perverse or arbitrary. Moreover, since it is an admitted position that most of the universities including the Delhi University and those in th