NEET UG 2024 Hearing: SC Rejects Pleas Seeking Re-test and Result Cancellation, Know More Details Here

New Delhi: In July 23 hearing on NEET UG 2024, the Supreme Court rejected the pleas seeking a re-test and cancellation of the result. The CJI said, “Data on record is not indicative of a systemic leak of the question paper which would indicate a disruption of the sanctity of the exam. At the present stage, there is an absence of materials on record to show results of the exam were vitiated or there was a systemic breach in the conduct of the exam. The disclosures by the CBI indicate that the investigation is still not over but candidates at Patna and Hazaribagh appear to be beneficiaries of the leak. There is no dispute that leak at Patna and Hazaribagh has taken place.”

The hearing commenced with a bench comprising Chief Justice D.Y. Chandrachud, Justices J.B. Pardiwala, and Manoj Misra. The bench is hearing almost 40 petitions and is expected to give the final verdict on July 23, 2024. Earlier, it had directed the National Testing Agency (NTA) to declare the centre-wise NEET UG 204 Results on the official website by 12 PM on July 20, 2024. The court has asked the exam authority to mask the identity of the students. 

The hearing was commenced by a bench comprising Chief Justice D.Y. Chandrachud, Justices J.B. Pardiwala, and Manoj Misra. The bench is hearing almost 40 petitions.

The petitions filed included the following demands:

• Cancellation of the entire NEET-UG 2024 exam
• Re-test for a fair and secure exam
• Investigation into the alleged irregularities

Earlier, the Bench also comprising Justices J.B. Pardiwala and Manoj Misra had underscored that the fact that the sanctity of the exam was compromised was “beyond question”. It however, maintained that the decision to cancel the exam in its entirety would be an “extreme last resort” as it affected the lives of over 23 lakh students.

The Supreme Court is also hearing petitions from the under-fire NTA - the National Testing Agency, the central body responsible for the conduct of competitive exams - seeking transfer of cases filed by various state police forces to the respective High Courts to avoid potential duplication and confusion.

During the hearing, CJI DY Chandrachud told the petitioners that ‘you have to show us that the leak was so systemic and affected the entire examination so as to warrant the cancellation of the entire exam.’ The re-examination has to be on concrete footing that the sanctity of entire test was affected, the CJI said.

What were the Earlier Proceedings of the Court?

The Court granted the adjournment to enable the petitioners to file their responses to the affidavits. Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud-led bench initially proposed to list the matters on July 15. But the Solicitor General of India Tushar Mehta cited a personal difficulty on July 15 and July 16. With July 17 a holiday, the SC then posted the matters to July 18.

What did the Centre Say in its Affidavit?

In an affidavit submitted on July 10, the Centre informed the top court that the Ministry of Education had requested IIT Madras to conduct comprehensive data analytics of the NEET-UG 2024 results. The affidavit also indicated that the distribution of marks followed a typical bell-shaped curve, a pattern often observed in large-scale examinations.

The counsel has alleged irregularity in the IIT Madras report submitted at the apex court. “One Hardayal School from Bahadurgarh has a special story…there were 6 people…What happened in Bahadurgarh is glaring. NTA never disclosed that the question paper taken from Canara Bank was distributed. There was no delay. The principal of school is on record that they collected papers from SBI and Canara Bank,”.

Latest Updates:

• NEET UG 2024 Scam: SC Bench Lead by CJI Heard 38 Petitions, Know More Details Here
• NEET UG Counselling 2024 Likely to Start from Third Week of July 2024, Official Schedule Soon

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