NEET controversy: ‘Retest only on concrete footing’, says Supreme Court

PTC Web Desk: The Supreme Court on Thursday stated that the NEET-UG exam 2024, which served as the entrance to undergraduate medical courses, could only be conducted again if it was proven that the “sanctity” of the test held on May 5 was “lost on a large scale” due to leaked questions. This decision was made on Thursday morning as the court heard over 40 petitions requesting a re-test.

The Supreme Court also considered petitions from the National Testing Agency (NTA), the central body responsible for conducting competitive exams. The NTA is seeking to transfer cases filed by various state police forces to the respective High Courts to prevent potential duplication and confusion.

Chief Justice DY Chandrachud opened the hearing by emphasising the urgency of the situation, noting that lakhs of students are awaiting the court’s decision. “We will give priority to the NEET matter because of social ramifications,” he said. The Chief Justice’s first significant response was to a petitioner’s request to void the exam results for all students, arguing that the leaked paper may have compromised the scores.

“You have to show us that the leak was systematic and that it affected the entire examination… so as to warrant cancellation of the entire exam,” the court responded. The Chief Justice-led three-member Bench also asked for guidance on the direction the investigation should take if they were to accept the argument that the leaked question papers compromised the exam results.

The court pointed out that it might be unfeasible to identify and “segregate” the hundreds or thousands of students who may have conspired to access the questions beforehand. Addressing the number of petitioners, which is crucial to establish the strength of the petitions seeking cancellation, the NTA stated, “There are 131 not within the 1.08 lakh (students selected for admission to private colleges) who want a re-test, and there are 254 who are opposing the re-test.”

The controversy surrounding the 2024 NEET-UG exam, which was attended by nearly 24 lakh aspiring medical professionals, began last month after allegations that the question paper had been leaked. Subsequent inquiries indicated that the leak was orchestrated by a national ‘solver gang’ network on social media.

Red flags were raised due to the unusually high number of perfect scores; a record 67 students, including six from one coaching centre, scored a maximum of 720. Additionally, questions were raised about the award of ‘grace marks’ to 1,563 students, which the authorities stated is not part of exam protocol.

During the hearing, the Centre referenced data analytics from IIT-Madras on the NEET-UG 2024 results, which found no evidence of “mass malpractice” or any localized group of candidates benefiting and scoring unusually high marks.

The Supreme Court has directed petitioners to demonstrate that the paper leak was systemic and impacted the entire examination, justifying its cancellation.