NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Tuesday sought a response from the National Testing Agency (NTA) on a plea seeking a fresh NEET-UG exam 2024 on the grounds of “paper leak” and other “malpractices”.
The top court said the “sanctity of the exam seemed to have been affected” so it needed an answer from the NTA. However, it refused to stay the counselling process for the selected candidates.
The plea alleged that NEET-UG, 2024, was riddled with “malpractices” as various instances of paper leaks have come to the knowledge of the petitioners.
The alleged paper leak was violative of Article 14 (right to equality) under the Constitution as it gave an undue advantage to some candidates over others who chose to attempt the examination in a fair manner, it said.
“The Supreme Court said that the sanctity of the exam is compromised that means somewhere they also feel that there have been some kind of issues in the examination and asked NTA to answer this before 8 July but they have not given any relief on the counselling,” said Alakh Pandey, CEO, of Physics Wallah on the Supreme Court’s hearing.
“There was a hearing of the case particularly listed before the results. Here the students were demanding justification on the grounds of the paper leak only but not about the grace marks or anything else, because it was listed on 1st June before results. Our PIL will be listed tomorrow. It is regarding the paper leak as well as the grace marks, the transparencies of NTA and everything else,” he added.
Earlier, several student groups held separate demonstrations on Monday against the alleged irregularities in the NEET-UG examination 2024.
Students’ Federation of India protested at Union education ministry, where hundreds of students called for an independent and transparent investigation into the alleged irregularities in National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test (NEET) conducted by National Testing Agency (NTA). The protesters also called for a more reliable examination system to safeguard the integrity of entrance tests, said Avijit Ghosh, an SFI member and vice-president of JNU Students’ Union.
Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad demonstrated at the NTA headquarters in Okhla, demanding a CBI investigation into the alleged irregularities. The protesters called for various measures to ensure transparency in all examinations conducted by NTA, including increased security at test centres, conduct of examinations at govt centres, and deployment of govt-appointed invigilators.
NTA announced the NEET-UG 2024 results on June 5, revealing an unprecedented scenario where 67 candidates scored a perfect 720, making them joint toppers, including six from one centre in Haryana. It also saw a significant increase in competition, with 13.16 lakh candidates qualifying compared to 11.44 lakh in 2023. The announcement immediately triggered allegations of irregularities.
The National Eligibility cum Entrance Test-Undergraduate (NEET-UG) examination is conducted by the National Testing Agency (NTA) for admissions to MBBS, BDS and AYUSH and other related courses in government and private institutions across the country.
The top court said the “sanctity of the exam seemed to have been affected” so it needed an answer from the NTA. However, it refused to stay the counselling process for the selected candidates.
The plea alleged that NEET-UG, 2024, was riddled with “malpractices” as various instances of paper leaks have come to the knowledge of the petitioners.
The alleged paper leak was violative of Article 14 (right to equality) under the Constitution as it gave an undue advantage to some candidates over others who chose to attempt the examination in a fair manner, it said.
“The Supreme Court said that the sanctity of the exam is compromised that means somewhere they also feel that there have been some kind of issues in the examination and asked NTA to answer this before 8 July but they have not given any relief on the counselling,” said Alakh Pandey, CEO, of Physics Wallah on the Supreme Court’s hearing.
“There was a hearing of the case particularly listed before the results. Here the students were demanding justification on the grounds of the paper leak only but not about the grace marks or anything else, because it was listed on 1st June before results. Our PIL will be listed tomorrow. It is regarding the paper leak as well as the grace marks, the transparencies of NTA and everything else,” he added.
Earlier, several student groups held separate demonstrations on Monday against the alleged irregularities in the NEET-UG examination 2024.
Students’ Federation of India protested at Union education ministry, where hundreds of students called for an independent and transparent investigation into the alleged irregularities in National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test (NEET) conducted by National Testing Agency (NTA). The protesters also called for a more reliable examination system to safeguard the integrity of entrance tests, said Avijit Ghosh, an SFI member and vice-president of JNU Students’ Union.
Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad demonstrated at the NTA headquarters in Okhla, demanding a CBI investigation into the alleged irregularities. The protesters called for various measures to ensure transparency in all examinations conducted by NTA, including increased security at test centres, conduct of examinations at govt centres, and deployment of govt-appointed invigilators.
NTA announced the NEET-UG 2024 results on June 5, revealing an unprecedented scenario where 67 candidates scored a perfect 720, making them joint toppers, including six from one centre in Haryana. It also saw a significant increase in competition, with 13.16 lakh candidates qualifying compared to 11.44 lakh in 2023. The announcement immediately triggered allegations of irregularities.
The National Eligibility cum Entrance Test-Undergraduate (NEET-UG) examination is conducted by the National Testing Agency (NTA) for admissions to MBBS, BDS and AYUSH and other related courses in government and private institutions across the country.
