The Supreme Court on Tuesday issued notice to the Centre and National Testing Agency (NTA) on a plea seeking cancelling of NEET-UG 2024 exams over allegations of leak of question papers. A bench of Justices Vikram Nath and Ahsanuddin Amanullah said the “sanctity has been affected” and “we need answers”. However, the court refused to stay the counselling process for admission of those who have cleared the exam. “Let the counselling start. We are not stopping the counselling,” said Justice Nath as Senior Advocate Mathews J Nedumpara urged the court to stay the counselling.
Justice Amanullah told the NTA counsel, “It’s not so simple that because you have done it (conducted the exam), it’s sacrosanct. We need answers for that…The sanctity has been affected. So we need answers”.The bench said it would post the matter for hearing immediately upon reopening of the court and added that if more time is needed to file the response, the court will stop the counselling. The bench noted that a bench presided by Chief Justice of India D Y Chandrachud is already seized if matter on the issue and is scheduled to hear it on July 8 and tagged the present petition also for hearing along with the other.
Also Read: NEET-UG 2024 Exam Controversy: Supreme Court Issues Notice to NTA Over Paper Leak Allegations
The fresh writ petition filed by a batch of students raised doubts about the sanctity of the May 5 exam in the light of allegations of exam paper leak and urged the court to cancel it and to direct NTA to hold it again.In their plea, the students said, “After having stumbled upon news of the NEET exam paper leak they have been shaken at the core. Since, the breaking of news on the NEET exam paper leak, the Petitioners are under tremendous stress and anxiety … their family members nurtured the dream of Petitioners becoming a medical practitioner one day.” Hearing a similar plea on May 17, a CJI-led bench refused to stay the declaration of the NEET exam results and posted the matter for hearing on July 8.
The NEET UG 2024 results on June 4 revealed 67 students scored a perfect 720/720, including six from one exam center, raising concerns of irregularities. The NTA, responsible for NEET, faces scrutiny for grace marks, mismanagement, and overall handling. Students and groups demand a re-exam for fairness and transparency. On June 10, a large number of students protested in Delhi, calling for a thorough investigation into alleged irregularities in the NEET exam. The protests were led by Left-affiliated student unions near the education ministry and the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) near the NTA headquarters. In response to the controversy, the education ministry has formed a four-member panel to review the awarding of grace marks to more than 1,500 candidates. This decision was made following allegations that inflated marks may have contributed to 67 students sharing the top rank in the NEET-UG exam.