The Supreme Court of India on Monday heard numerous petitions challenging the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test – Undergraduate (NEET-UG) 2024. These petitions revolve primarily around allegations of exam paper leaks and irregularities during the exam, which was held on May 5, 2024. The hearing, presided over by Chief Justice D.Y. Chandrachud and Justices J.B. Pardiwala and Manoj Misra, is anticipated to deliver the final ruling shortly.
The apex court bench ordered the Solicitor General to present before them the right answer to Physics Question 19. An expert group of three IIT-Delhi members is entrusted with giving the right answer to the NCERT question that resulted in 44 candidates achieving the top ranks. The committee is to form an opinion on the appropriate response and send it to the Registrar by noon tomorrow.
NEET-UG 2024 Supreme Court Hearing Live Updates
During today’s proceedings, CJI Chandrachud brought up concerns over the exact time of the alleged NEET paper leak, implying that it might have happened before the question papers were delivered to banks. The government had earlier claimed that the leak occurred on the morning of May 5 and was limited to particular districts of Bihar and Jharkhand. However, the CJI stated that if the leak occurred on the night of May 4, it most certainly occurred before the question papers had been stored in the strong room vaults of the banks.
CJI Chandrachud observed, “If the NEET paper leak happened on the night of May 4, it did not occur in the vault of SBI or Canara Bank. The leak must have happened well before the transportation of the question papers to the banks.” He also highlighted the peculiar approach of engaging students, rather than professors, as problem solvers.
Furthermore, pursuant to the Bihar Police and Economic Offences Unit (EOU) investigation reports, Advocate Hooda stated that 161 statements indicate that the leak occurred much before the examination date.
The bench also looked into the matter of two separate sets of question papers being given in Jhajjar. The correct papers were kept in the State Bank of India’s strong room vault, however according to the NTA, Canara Bank question papers were accidentally sent to three centres in Jhajjar by city coordinators. When the issue was identified, the papers were removed from two centres, but the wrong papers remained at a third centre.
Solicitor General Tushar Mehta stated that grace marks were provided to NEET applicants who got incorrect (Canara Bank) papers, which were later replaced, resulting in shorter exam time. The CJI confirmed that only students who had their question papers swapped during the exam obtained grace marks, which Mehta verified.
Advocate Hooda said that the NTA’s testimony before the Court shows that grace marks were also given to students at Hardayal School, even though they only attempted the Canara Bank question paper. He further claimed that there was a systemic failure in the conduct of NEET UG, citing a vulnerable system “so fragile that it is consistently being compromised”. He also went on and questioned how Canara Bank exams were graded without a published answer key.
Despite incorrect question booklets being distributed at eight locations nationwide, the NTA Counsel and Solicitor General noted that the “difficulty level is of the same level,” hence, allowing students to continue answering the incorrect question booklet.
