What evidence do the petitioners have to show that the NEET-UG 2024 paper leak was systemic?
The Supreme Court, on Thursday (July 18), requested the petitioners who are calling for the cancellation of the National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test (Undergraduate) for the year 2024 (NEET-UG 2024) to provide evidence that the alleged paper leak was systemic and had a widespread impact on the entire examination.
The court emphasized that any decision to hold a re-examination must be based on solid evidence that the integrity of the entire test was compromised.
A three-judge Bench, led by Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud, is currently hearing over 40 petitions, including those filed by the National Testing Agency (NTA) to transfer cases pending against it in various high courts regarding the NEET-UG controversy to the Supreme Court, in an effort to streamline the litigation process and avoid conflicting rulings.
Chief Justice Chandrachud stated that the pleas concerning NEET-UG 2024 would be heard that day, noting that hundreds of thousands of young students are eagerly awaiting the outcome and that the court intends to hear and decide the matter promptly.
The Bench, which also includes Justices JB Pardiwala and Manoj Misra, was informed that the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has submitted a second status report regarding its ongoing investigation into the alleged paper leak and malpractices. The court cautioned that disclosing the details of what the agency has shared could jeopardize the investigation and potentially alert those involved.
On July 11, the Supreme Court postponed the hearing on the petitions, including those seeking the cancellation of the exam, a re-test, and an investigation into alleged malpractices during NEET-UG 2024, until July 18, as the responses from the Centre and the NTA were still pending receipt by some parties.
The court had previously received a status report from the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on the progress of its investigation into the alleged irregularities in the conduct of the exam.
In a supplementary affidavit filed with the Supreme Court last week, the Centre stated that data analytics of the NEET-UG 2024 results, conducted by IIT-Madras, revealed no signs of “mass malpractice” or a specific group of candidates gaining an unfair advantage and achieving unusually high scores.
The NTA also filed a separate supplementary affidavit, echoing similar sentiments, and reported that it had analyzed the distribution of marks at the national, state, and city levels.
During the hearing on July 8, the Supreme Court noted that the integrity of NEET-UG 2024 had been “breached.”
The court suggested that a re-test could be ordered if the entire examination process was found to be compromised and requested detailed information from the NTA and the CBI, including the timing and method of the alleged paper leak, the number of individuals involved in wrongdoing, and other relevant details to assess the extent of the irregularities claimed by the petitioners.
More than 23.33 lakh students appeared for the exam on May 5 at 4,750 centers in 571 cities, including 14 cities outside India.
The National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test-Undergraduate (NEET-UG) is organized by the NTA for admissions to MBBS, BDS, AYUSH, and other related courses in both government and private institutions throughout the country.
