After the Centre declined Tamil Nadu government’s request for exemption from the National Eligibility Entrance Test (NEET), the Supreme Court on Tuesday asked the state government to start the admission counselling process immediately, The Indian Express reported.

This comes a day after attorney general KK Venugopal said Tamil Nadu’s ordinance seeking exemption was “not good in law”.

While Tamil Nadu has been against the implementation of NEET, the common medical exam, arguing that the test favours CBSE students over other state boards, the Union Health Ministry contended that giving exemption to one state would encourage other states to demand similar exemptions.

Tamil Nadu has twice sent the exemption ordinance to the Centre for approval so far after the exam was made mandatory for admission to medical and dental colleges last year.