New Delhi: The Central Board of Secondary Education on Saturday re-conducted the All India Pre-Medical/Pre-Dental Test - 2015 (AIPMT) for medical and dental courses.
The Supreme Court had on June 19 given the CBSE time till August 17 to conduct the exam and declare the results of AIPMT for medical and dental courses for the year 2015-16.
The court by its June 15 order had cancelled the AIPMT examination held on May 3 following the leak of the question paper and circulation of the answer keys through electronic devices across 10 states in the country.
The SC yesterday declined to interfere with the dress code prescribed by the CBSE for candidates appearing for the AIPMT exam, barring them from wearing either a hijab and full-sleeved shirt.
A bench of Chief Justice HL Dattu, Justice Arun Mishra and Justice Amitava Roy while rejecting the PIL by Students Islamic Organisation of India, said: "If you appear in an examination without a scarf, your faith will not disappear."
Its response came as senior counsel Sanjay Hegde, appearing for the organisation, said: "Wearing headscarf is an essential religious practice. The girls will be forced to abandon the examination."
Describing the plea as "nothing but an ego", the court said that candidates can wear the hijab after the exam is over. "It is only for three hours... wear scarf after three hours", Chief Justice Dattu said.
The court also observed that faith is something different from wearing a particular type of clothes.
"Sorry, sorry, sorry, we are not going into these small issues," Chief Justice Dattu said rejecting the plea as Hegde sought to urge the court that "minority is a minority".
At the outset of the hearing, Chief Justice Dattu questioned the locus of the SIOI to raise the issue of dress code. "Organisation can't come before us to question dress code and headscarf."
The apex court on June 15 had scrapped the AIPMT for the year 2015-16 following the leak of its question paper and circulation of their answer keys through electronic devices at different examination centres in 10 states across the country.
Earlier, the Kerala High Court while refusing to interfere with the dress code prescribed by the CBSE to prevent any unfair practices had granted permission to two Muslim girls to appear in the test wearing hijab.
(With PTI inputs)
