The Legislative Assembly of Tamil Nadu passed the NEET exemption Bill once again without accepting the suggestions offered by Governor N Ravi a few weeks ago. The Governor had returned the Bill to the Assembly for its reconsideration after keeping it in cupboard for around four months. In September 2021, the Tamil Nadu Assembly had passed the Bill seeking exemption from the National Eligibility Cum Entrance Test (NEET). When the Bill was sent to the Governor for his assent, the Governor raised some genuine concerns about the constitutional validity and desirability of the Bill on various grounds, including the violation of the Supreme Court’s guidelines prescribed in the Christian Medical College case that upheld the requirement of NEET for admission in all medical/dental colleges throughout the country. The DMK Government of Tamil Nadu declared in its manifesto to scrap the NEET. After coming into power, the government constituted a committee and passed the bill to abolish the NEET based on the report of the A. K. Rajan Committee. The Governor did not find the report of the committee convincing, and asked the Speaker of the Legislative Assembly to present the Bill for reconsideration in the Assembly exercising his powers under Article 200 of the Constitution. In his communication, sent to the Speaker of the Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly, as reported in the print media, the Governor said: “When the Supreme Court has found the NEET to be in the national interest and also for the protection of the weaker section of the society, will it be open for the State Government to seek an exemption from NEET, particularly since the same has been held to be mandatory and applicable across the country? The Supreme Court has held the NEET scheme to be in complete conformity with the constitutional scheme. Article 46 and 47, referred to by the Supreme Court, address the issues of social justice at large and particularly concerning the scheduled castes, scheduled tribes, and weaker sections. Public health is also a major component of the same”.
It is noteworthy that the Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly acted on a rocket speed by calling a special session and passed the Bill in the original form without accepting the suggestions offered by the Governor. The Assembly has sent a strong message to the Governor that it is constitutionally competent to enact the law to scrap the NEET and will not give up the issue. In an article titled “NEET, is discriminatory, against social justice”, published in the famous English newspaper The Hindu on February 09, 2022, the Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M. K. Stalin defended the NEET Exemption Bill in these words: “NEET is not a system established by the Constitution. It was not made a part of the Constitution. The Medical Council of India mandated the creation of NEET. When such an examination was proposed in 2010, Muthamizharinar Kalaignar, the then Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu, vehemently opposed it. It was also opposed by a number of Indian states. This examination has been challenged in 115 cases across India. Tamil Nadu is the state that is leading the charge in this direction…Private training institutes benefit from NEET. The NEET exemption Bill is being introduced for the benefit of those who cannot afford to pay for so much for training. NEET is an impediment to the entitlement of the poor and needy children to education. In their dream of becoming doctors, a barrier wall has been placed in the name of NEET. “You cannot be a doctor”, says NEET. “You do not deserve it”, it says, halting one’s progress. That is why the NEET Exemption Bill has been introduced. I do not think I need to go into great detail about the abnormalities in that exam at this assembly. So, to summarize, NEET is not a holy cow. It attempts to marginalize students from low-income families in the guise of merit. As a result, we oppose the examination and demand an exemption”.
Now, the Governor has not much options and he would have to clear the Bill as per the constitutional scheme provided in Article 200 of the Constitution. The Governor is bound to give his consent to the Bill if he returns the Bill to the Assembly for its reconsideration and the Assembly passes the Bill again, with or without accepting the Governor’s suggestions. In certain situations, the Governor has more options. If the Assembly passes any Bill that undermines the powers and position of the High Court, the Governor is bound to reserve such a Bill for the President’s consideration. However, the Governor’s occasional use of discretion to examine the constitutional validity or desirability of a Bill passed by the legislature and ask for a reconsideration is now a matter of constitutional practice followed in many states. The Governor is a nominee of the President of India, whose paramount duty is to preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution and the laws. He cannot be a mute spectator if the state government plays with the Constitution or the laws. He is a custodian of the Constitution in a state. He is not a rubber stamp or a cipher. The Tamil Nadu Governor has rightly intervened in the NEET Bill case. But now he should clear the Bill and send it to the President of India as the Bill relates to the medical education that falls in the category of concurrent list and President’s assent is necessary to avoid the repugnancy with the central law.
Notably, the Governor had one more option given his powers under Article 200 of the Constitution. At the initial stage, when the Assembly presented the Bill to him for his assent, he had the opportunity to send the Bill to the President of India. Had he exercised this option, the situation would have been entirely different, and the State Government could not have built so much pressure upon him? However, the Constitution does not prescribe any timeline during which the Governor has to give his assent to the Bill passed by the Assembly and using this lacuna; the Governor may also hold the Bill for an indefinite period. Some Governors and a former President of India have used this power in the past. In political jurisprudence, it is called a pocket veto. No Court of Law can direct the Governor/President to accord his assent to the Bill as this issue is not justiciable.
Apart from the constitutional issues discussed above, some legal commentators and political scholars are also questioning the steps taken by the Tamil Nadu government to scrap the NEET. Several people believe that the move is politically motivated, and if the NEET is exempted, the level of medical education will deteriorate in the state. If today Tamil Nadu scraps the NEET, tomorrow more states will do this. This trend will affect the interests of the meritorious students adversely and will also deteriorate the level of medical education in the country. The national test for medical education was conceived as a way out of longstanding problems with the medical admission system in the country, from multiple entrance examinations to several irregularities in the admission process. But the NEET is also not from controversies. Students have to spend lots of money to prepare for the entrance test. All of them cannot afford the high fees charged by the coaching institutes. Therefore, the states should explore some mechanism to provide free coaching facility to the students who cannot afford the fees of coaching institutes. The Tamil Nadu government can also choose better options to encourage the students to clear the NEET. The government should invest more resources in the medical education sector and provide better guidance to the students who have to pass the NEET. Exempting NEET will invite political interference in the medical education system. It appears the Governor has raised genuine concerns keeping in view all these circumstances. Now, the ball is going to the President’s court, who will take a call on the aid and advice of the Union Cabinet headed by the Prime Minister. If the President accords his assent to the Bill, it will become a law and the NEET will be scrapped from the State of Tamil Nadu. However, the affected parties or the public-spirited citizens can challenge the constitutional validity of the Tamil Nadu NEET exemption law in the High Court of Madras/Supreme Court in public interest litigation, and the courts can examine the matter from the constitutional angles. No state can play with the students to build its vote bank. Merit should be the sole criterion for admission to higher educational institutions. The Tamil Nadu government should not enact the laws in haste. Let me conclude this piece with these insightful words of Babasaheb Dr. B. R. Ambedkar: “I feel that the Constitution is workable; it is flexible and strong enough to hold the country together both in peacetime and in wartime. Indeed, if I may say so, if things go wrong under the new Constitution the reason will not be that we had a bad Constitution. What we will have to say is that man was vile”.