NEET UG Controversy: Supreme Court Seeks Answer From NTA, Says ‘Sanctity was Affected, so we Want Answer’

NEET UG Controversy: The Supreme Court on Tuesday sought a reply from the National Testing Authority on a petition demanding cancellation of the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET)-UG 2024 examination and for conducting a re-test on grounds of “paper leak” and other “malpractices”.

The vacation bench of Justices Vikram Nath and Ahsanuddin Amanullah said the act is not considered sacred merely because it is done; Sanctity has been compromised, so clarification is needed. Advocate Mathews J Nedumpara, representing the petitioners, urged the bench to stop the counseling process.

However, the apex court refused this. “Let the counseling begin, we are not stopping the counselling,” the bench remarked. The hearing of NEET UG case is on 8th July.

The apex court also refused to stay the counseling process for successful candidates for admission to MBBS and other courses. Justices Vikram Nath and Ahsanuddin Amanullah presided over the hearing of the petition in a vacation bench.

The alleged leak of the examination paper was held to be a violation of Article 14 (equality) in the Constitution, as it unfairly advantaged some candidates over those who chose to take the examination honestly.

The petition seeking cancellation of National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET) UG was filed on June 1 by Shivangi Mishra and nine other petitioners. The NEET result, which was declared on June 4, has attracted significant attention in the media due to various factors, including the implementation of the Grace Point policy.

Following the declaration of the results, additional petitions have been filed in the Supreme Court challenging the National Testing Agency’s decision to grant grace marks to several candidates. These petitions are scheduled to be considered at a later date.

Apart from NEET aspirants, coaching institutes, parents and student organizations like All India Students Association (AISA) and Students Federation of India (SFI) protested against the NEET exam on Monday.

Opposition leaders Priyanka Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi have been criticizing the Modi government over irregularities in the NEET results and have assured students that they will raise the issue in Parliament.

Meanwhile, NTA, which conducts NEET, last week said the Education Ministry has constituted a four-member panel to review the grace marks (NEET UG Controversy) given to over 1,500 candidates.

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