"We tried our best to hold this exam in the interest of thousands of students, but in vain. Ultimately we had no other option, but to declare cancellation of this exam," Board chairman Sajal Dasgupta told PTI.
Speaking about two other decisions taken by the Board, Dasgupta said "those who are willing to appear in physics and chemistry examinations can be treated for admission to B Pharm courses if they score the eligibility mark."
In a significant order on May 9, the Supreme Court had rejected pleas of state governments and minority institutions to allow them to hold separate entrance exams for MBBS and BDS courses for the academic year 2016-17, saying only NEET provides for conducting such test for admission to these courses.
The apex court had put to rest all confusion by refusing to modify its April 28 order by which it had allowed the Centre and CBSE to conduct a single common entrance test for admission to MBBS and BDS courses through National Eligibility Entrance Test (NEET).
Around 6.5 lakh students took up the NEET-I test held on May 1.