NEET-UG 2024 case highlights | SC adjourns hearing of pleas alleging ‘paper leak’ to July 18

The Court had initially posted the case to Monday. However, Solicitor General Tushar Mehta said he would not be able to attend on Monday and Tuesday. Wednesday is a Court holiday.

The matter was adjourned today following a request by petitioners’ lawyers who demanded more time to go through the affidavits filed by the Centre and NTA.

Amidst the alleged irregularities in the NEET examination 2024, Tamil Nadu BJP president K. Annamalai on Thursday asserted that the paper leak was “localised leak” that has been controlled, adding that the “fear-mongering” of opposition parties can be put to rest now.

“IIT Madras did a survey about the nature of the paper leak, they are very clear that it has been contained. It did not reach many people... Supreme Court also mentioned a few days ago that it does not seem to be a widespread leak... It is a very localised leak that has been controlled, the fear-mongering of opposition parties can be put to rest now,” Mr. Annamalai told ANI.

The Centre has informed the Supreme Court that counselling process for the controversy-hit NEET-UG 2024 will be conducted in four rounds beginning from the third week of July. 

Read the story here.

The Bench headed by CJI Chandrachud will hear the matter shortly. The petitions are listed as item numbers 40-45. The Bench is hearing item number 33 currently. 

​

Days after the Tamil Nadu Assembly passed a resolution urging the Union government to abolish NEET, actor and the leader of Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK), Vijay, criticised the NEET examinations and urged the departments of education and sanitation to be moved back to the State list from the Concurrent list.

Mentioning how the NEET examination affects students from impoverished, economically backward and oppressed classes, Vijay said that he sees three issues in the implementation of NEET. “Firstly, it’s against the rights of a state government. Before 1975, education was under the State list, and then the Union government moved it to the Concurrent list — I believe this is where the issue started.”

Read the story here.

A controversy erupted on July 6 morning with reports claiming that the NEET-UG 2024 counselling had been deferred until further notice. By the afternoon, the health ministry clarified that these reports were inaccurate, as the counselling date had not yet been announced.

A new controversy erupted on Saturday morning with reports claiming that the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET) UG 2024 counselling had been deferred until further notice. By the afternoon, the health ministry clarified that these reports were inaccurate, as the counselling date had not yet been announced.

Already under scrutiny for numerous issues, the NEET UG 2024 examination faces yet another problem with the controversy over counselling.

Read the story here.

Over 50 successful candidates on July 4 moved the Supreme Court to stop the Centre and the National Testing Agency from taking any steps to cancel the undergraduate National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test (NEET-UG) 2024 which was riddled with allegations of paper leaks and other irregularities.

Read the story here.

The Chief Justice said the law on whether a retest was needed or not was based on settled principles of law.

“On the basis of the data on record placed before it, a court has to see if the breach is systemic; whether it has affected the integrity of the entire exam process; whether it is possible to segregate the beneficiaries from the untainted students. In case segregation is not possible, it would be necessary to order re-examination. On the other hand, if the breach is confined to specific centres, it may not be appropriate to order a re-examination, especially when it involves over 23 lakh students,” the CJI explained during the last hearing. 

The Central Bureau Of Investigation (CBI) on July 9 arrested two more persons in Patna in the National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test (Undergraduate) ​2024 paper leak case​; one was identified as a candidate named Sunny Kumar, a resident of Nalanda, while the other was Ranjit Kumar, father of another candidate from Gaya, said agency sources.

A total of 27 people have been arrested by Bihar Police, Economic Offences Unit (EOU) and CBI in the case. With the fresh arrest, the federal agency alone has arrested nine persons from Bihar.

​Read the story here.​

This video features interviews with two NEET aspirants, who worry about their future college admissions.

Watch: NEET paper leak: Scoring high but fearing the worst – students’ voices

Interviews with two NEET aspirants, who worry about their future college admissions.

The Centre on Wednesday submitted an affidavit in the Supreme Court referring to a data analytics report submitted by the Indian institute of Technology-Madras ruling out “mass malpractice” or localised set of candidates having been benefited in the NEET-UG 2024 exam leading to abnormal scores.

The IIT-Madras was assigned the task of suggesting modalities which could be followed to segregate students suspected of using unfair means from other students.

In a separate affidavit, the National Testing Agency (NTA), which holds the exam, said the total number of actual candidates whose final scores reflected perfect 720 marks was 61 only. The NTA denied allegations of petitioners that 67 candidates scored perfect marks as “fallacious and incorrect”.

Read more here. 

The Supreme Court on July 8 said the cancellation of the undergraduate National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test (NEET-UG) 2024 in its entirety was an “extreme last resort” as it affected the lives of over 23 lakh students who wrote the prestigious exam for medical admissions across the country.

However, Chief Justice of India D.Y. Chandrachud concluded that the fact that questions were leaked, and the sanctity of the exam was compromised was “beyond question”.

“One thing is very clear, the leak has taken place. The fact that the sanctity of the exam is compromised is beyond question. Now how wide is the leak? We have to determine the nature of the leak… Before we order a retest, we have to know the extent of the leak. We do not live in an ideal world where there is no leak. But a retest affects the lives of 23 lakh students. The cancellation of the NEET-UG exam is the extreme last resort. It would be done only if we have no other go… If we cannot separate the wheat from the chaff, retest would have to be directed,” Chief Justice Chandrachud observed in court.

Read more here. 

NEET-UG 2024 hearing: Cancellation of exam in its entirety is an ‘extreme last resort’, says Supreme Court

NEET-UG 2024 hearing: Supreme Court says cancellation of the NEET-UG exam is an “extreme last resort” but also notes that the fact that questions were leaked, and the sanctity of the exam was compromised, is “beyond question”.

The Centre said that it is irrational to scrap the undergraduate National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test (NEET-UG) 2024 in its entirety.

The government further indicated that cancelling a pan-India exam would not be advisable in the “absence of any proof of any large scale breach of confidentiality”.

The government said a drastic move like a re-examination would jeopardise the future of lakhs of honest students who attended the NEET-UG 2024, which is under a cloud of controversy following allegations of widespread question paper leaks, impersonation, cheating and other irregularities.

Read more here. 

Read The Hindu’s live updates from the hearing here. 

NEET-UG 2024 SC Hearing updates: ‘Let us not be in self-denial about what happened’, CJI says on paper leak

NEET-UG 2024 Hearing updates: The Supreme Court is hearing more than 30 pleas related to the controversy-ridden medical entrance exam NEET-UG 2024.

In the little over a decade that NEET has been implemented in India, it has gathered as much notoriety as a static stone accumulates moss. In the latest round, the National Testing Agency, which conducts NEET, has been forced to appoint a four-member committee to go into the charges and allegations made about the conduct of the eligibility and entrance test for medicine for 2024. 

Read The Hindu’s editorial here.