NEET-UG 2024 Row: Supreme Court has refused to issue a stay order on NEET counselling. The court has also refused to order an immediate CBI probe to investigate the discrepancies in the NEET exam conducted this year.
Earlier on June 14 the court had issued notices to the Centre and the NTA on plea requesting for CBI investigation into allegations of question paper leak, other irregularities in NEET UG 2024.
Moreover, a vacation bench of Justices Vikram Nath and Sandeep Mehta also issued notices to parties on the plea of National Testing Agency (NTA), which sought transfer of petitions from high courts to the apex court. The Supreme Court will take up NTA's petition on July 8.
The Supreme Court on Tuesday also came down heavily on the National Testing Agency (NTA) and the Centre while hearing pleas related to alleged paper leaks and malpractices in NEET-UG 2024. The top court bench said that the slightest negligence on the part of anyone should be dealt with thoroughly.
“If there is 0.001% negligence on the part of anyone it should be thoroughly dealt with,” the Supreme Court bench said. The top court added that we cannot forget the efforts of the children who have prepared for the exams.
Several petitions have been submitted to high courts and the Supreme Court, raising various allegations, including paper leaks, grace marks, and a significant increase in high scorers.
On June 13, the Centre informed the Supreme Court about its decision to cancel the scorecards of 1,563 NEET-UG 2024 candidates, who were awarded grace marks. The Centre has further disclosed that these 1,563 students will have the opportunity to take a re-test.
The Centre after the SC hearing said that the affected students will soon be notified of their revised scores, which will exclude any grace marks awarded previously. They will then have the choice to opt for a re-examination. The results of those students who opt not to take the re-test will be based on the original exam conducted on May 5.
The National Testing Agency (NTA) has indicated that the re-test is anticipated to occur on June 23, with the results expected to be released before June 30. Furthermore, counselling sessions are set to commence on July 6 following the outcome of the re-test.
The newly-appointed education minister Dharmendra Pradhan has refuted allegations of any malpractice in the exam.