The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on Thursday registered a case against unknown persons following a complaint by the Ministry of Education that the integrity of the University Grants Commission-National Eligibility Test 2024 (UGC-NET) examination may have been compromised.
The agency has invoked sections 420 (cheating) and 120B (criminal conspiracy) of the Indian Penal Code.
On Wednesday, the UGC received inputs from the National Cyber Crime Threat Analytics Unit of the Indian Cyber Crime Coordination Centre (I4C) that the integrity of UGC-NET 2024, conducted by the National Testing Agency (NTA) in two shifts across different cities, may have been compromised.
Late on Wednesday, the Education Ministry announced cancellation of the examination. The test is held twice a year to ascertain the eligibility of candidates for Assistant Professor, Junior Research Fellowship and Assistant Professor positions, and for PhD admissions.
The development comes weeks after the NTA got embroiled in a controversy over the irregularities in the National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test (Under Graduate) for medical and allied courses, triggering protests by students and litigations.
Bihar Police’s Economic Offences Unit has already registered a case of alleged paper leak in the NEET case and arrested 13 persons, including four students, so far. Statements of some other students are being recorded. The Education Ministry has sought details of the police findings to take further action.
The Opposition parties have targeted the BJP-led government, seeking justice for lakhs of students who appeared by NEET earlier this year.
On Thursday, Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan held a press conference and said that back-to-back paper leaks affecting 35 lakh students was an “institutional failure” of the NTA. Listing the measures being taken by the government to prevent such instances, he said the accused would be punished based on evidence.
Published - June 20, 2024 11:25 pm IST
