The Supreme Court on Tuesday refused to cancel the NEET-UG 2024 exam and said there is no material to show that the sanctity of the entire examination has been affected. The Supreme Court said it realises that directing a fresh NEET-UG for the present year would be replete with serious consequences which will be for over 24 lakh students who appeared in this exam.
The Supreme Court said the demand for the cancellation of the exam is not justified, adding that data on record "does not indicate systemic leak of question paper of NEET-UG 24."
"There is absence of material to conclude that result of NEET-UG 2024 exam is vitiated or there is a systemic breach," the top court said on Tuesday.
The Supreme Court was hearing a clutch of pleas, including those that are seeking a re-test of the controversy-ridden NEET-UG on grounds of question paper leak and other malpractices. Solicitor General Tushar Mehta appeared for the Centre and the National Testing Agency (NTA), which conducts the exam.
CJI Chandrachud, part of the bench comprising him and Justice JB Pardiwala, while dictating the order had said the submission by the petitioners is that the leak which took place in the course of the NEET UG Exam is "systemic in nature and coupled with the structural deficiencies in the modalities of the exam..."
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CJI listed essential conclusions: 1. the fact that the leak of NEET UG paper 2024 is not in dispute; 2. post the transfer of the investigation, CBI has filed six reports dated July 10, July 17, July 21, 2024; 3. Disclosures indicate the investigation is continuing, however, CBI indicated the as per the present materials about 155 students drawn from the exam centres at Hazaribagh and Patna appeared to be beneficiaries of the fraud
The National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test-Undergraduate (NEET-UG) is conducted by the NTA for admissions to MBBS, BDS, AYUSH and other related courses in government and private institutions across the country.
In an earlier order in the matter, the top court had noted that it will scrutinise: (1) whether the alleged breach took place at a systemic level; (2) whether the breach is of the nature that it affects the integrity of the entire exam process; (3) whether it is possible to segregate the beneficiaries of the fraud from the untainted.
NEET-UG Exam Controversy
The NEET-UG exam is a medical entrance examination conducted by NTA for admissions to MBBS, BDS, AYUSH and other related courses in government and private institutions across the country.
The NTA conducted the medical entrance test NEET-UG on May 5 across 4,750 centres across the country and around 24 lakh candidates appeared.
The row erupted after results were out on June 4 and as many as 67 students scored a perfect 720, unprecedented in the NTA's history, with six from a centre in Haryana's Faridabad figuring in the list, raising suspicions about irregularities.
There was also a controversy over grace marks awarded to students to make up for the loss of time at six centres. The Centre later told the apex court that the grace marks were being scrapped and these 1,563 students would be given an option of a retest.
In an optional retest held for 1,563 students whose grace marks were scrapped after the matter reached the Supreme Court, only 813 appeared.
