New Delhi: The Supreme Court has indicated that a re-test for NEET-UG 2024 may be necessary if the exam’s integrity has been compromised.
The court has asked the National Testing Agency (NTA) and the CBI for information on the timing and duration of the question paper leak, the number of wrongdoers identified, and the methods used for the leak.
Chief Justice D Y Chandrachud, along with Justices J B Pardiwala and Manoj Misra, emphasized the need to ascertain the extent of the leak and its beneficiaries before ordering a re-test.
The court has scheduled a hearing for July 11 to review the status of the investigation into allegations of malpractices such as OMR sheet manipulation, impersonation, and cheating.
The court is scrutinizing whether the breach was systemic and if it affected the entire exam process. If the breach is widespread and identifying the beneficiaries is impossible, a re-test may be necessary. The NTA must also report the steps taken to identify and address the leak.
The Supreme Court is hearing over 30 pleas regarding irregularities in the NEET-UG 2024 exam, including requests to conduct the exam afresh. The court noted that 67 candidates scored a perfect 720, which raised concerns about possible malpractices.
The NTA and the education ministry argue that canceling the exam would harm many honest candidates. Protests and political debates have ensued over the alleged malpractices, with claims that grace marks may have contributed to the high scores.
The revised results reduced the number of top-ranking candidates from 67 to 61.
