The Supreme Court will have to order National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (Undergraduate) re-examinations if those guilty of malpractices aren’t identified and the question paper leak is widespread, Chief Justice of India D.Y. Chandrachud observed hearing pleas challenging the NEET-UG 2024 results. The bench will next hear the case on Thursday.
Hearing a set of pleas challenging the NEET-UG 2024 results and demanding a retest, a bench comprising Chief Justice D.Y. Chandrachud and Justices J.B. Pardiwala and Manoj Misra observed that if the question paper leak has happened through electronic means, then the paper leak is widespread. “One thing is clear - leak has taken place. Question is, how widespread is the reach?’’ observed CJI. Chief Justice Chandrachud probed with Centre’s counsel measures taken by the government and the National Testing Agency to identify those guilty of malpractices and actions taken against them.
Dictating the verdict, Chief Justice Chandrachud asked the Central Bureau of Investigation to file a status report of the probe and submit materials which have come to light before the next hearing.
“The law on whether a retest should be ordered in such a situation is based on fairly settled parameters. It will have to be scrutinized whether - alleged breach has taken place at a systemic level; whether the breach has affected the integrity of entire exam process and; whether it's possible to segregate beneficiaries of fraud from untainted students,” the bench said. “In a situation where breach affects the entirety of the process and it's not possible to segregate beneficiaries from others, it may be necessary to order re-exam,” Live Law reported quoting CJI.
The chief justice directed NTA to make full disclosure regarding the paper leak and provide details regarding the nature of the leak, places where the leak took place, and the lag of time between the occurrence of the leak and the conduct of exam. The bench also directed the agency to furnish details regarding steps taken to identify centres/cities where the leak took place; modalities followed for identifying; and number of students who have so far been identified to be beneficiaries.
The apex court also directed the Centre to furnish details regarding the committee set up to look into the shortcomings of NTA. “The court may then consider whether the committee should be allowed to proceed or composition should be modified,” Chief Justice Chandrachud said.
The bench probed with Centre whether the cyber forensics department be utilised to find out whether the whole exam is affected and to identify wrongdoers, in which case a re-test can be ordered for those students only, Live Law reported.
During the hearing, the chief justice enquired how NEET question papers were distributed to centres in foreign countries. CJI also enquired whether question papers were distributed through diplomatic bag or courier to foreign centres.
The National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test-Undergraduate (NEET-UG) is conducted by the NTA for admissions to MBBS, BDS, AYUSH and other related courses in government and private institutions across the country. Allegations of irregularities, including paper leaks, have led to protests in several cities and sparring between rival political parties.
A total of 67 students had scored a perfect 720, unprecedented in the NTA's history, with six from a Haryana centre figuring in the list, raising suspicions about irregularities in the examination. It has been alleged that grace marks contributed to the 67 students sharing the top rank.
The number of candidates sharing the top rank in the NEET-UG was reduced to 61 from 67 as the NTA announced the revised results on July 1.