Today, On 18th July, the Supreme Court of India is hearing 40 pleas seeking the cancellation of NEET UG. The session, which began at 11:15 AM, has raised several crucial questions. Key inquiries include the fairness of the examination process, the transparency of the results, and the potential impact on students.
New Delhi: The Supreme Court of India currently hearing a series of pleas requesting the cancellation of the NEET UG 2024 exam. During the proceedings on July 18, Chief Justice of India Dhananjaya Yeshwant Chandrachud addressed Senior Advocate Narender Hooda, emphasizing the need to demonstrate that the leak was so widespread that it impacted the entire examination.
He stated,
Merely because out of 23 lakh only 1 lakh will get admission, we cannot order a re-examination. Re-examination has to be on a concrete footing that the entire exam is affected.”
In response, the petitioner argued,
“The stake is of only one lakh candidates and not 23 lakh candidates.”
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Key questions raised by the Supreme Court include:
Q1. Did the leak affect the entire examination?
Chief Justice Chandrachud highlighted the requirement for proof of the leak’s systemic nature, affecting the whole exam, to justify its cancellation. Senior Advocate Hooda responded by pointing out the difficulty in making this case without the complete results being declared.
He Remarked,
“The handicap I have is that they have not declared the entire results. UPSC declares the result of the entire people. At least NTA should have declared the results of the one lakh people who would get admission.”
Q2. How many seats in Government and private medical colleges?
Hooda stated,
“There are 56,000 seats in government medical colleges and 52,000 seats in private medical colleges. If a re-exam happens, the total number of seats is one lakh eight thousand, not twenty-three lakhs.”
Q3. How many students are involved in the petitioner?
“Some of those within the one lakh eight thousand are also before the Court since they want government seats.”
Q4. What is the minimum mark received by the petitioners?
The Solicitor General noted,
“There are 131 students who do not fall within the one lakh eight thousand and want a re-test, while 254 students within the one lakh eight thousand are opposing the re-test.”
Q5. What is the cut-off mark for the 56,000 (govt seats) and the 1 lakh eight thousand?
Hooda mentioned,
“Anybody above the 50th percentile qualifies, with 164 being the cut-off mark. About half the petitioners have the qualification to be allotted a seat. Admission is a dynamic process; some may not opt for medicine and may go for IIT. The figures may come down. I am starting with a handicap as I do not have the results, and therefore, I cannot perform data analytics. One of the directors of IIT Madras, a member of the Governing Body of the NTA, has run the data analytics considering the entire number. If data analytics is run for 23 lakhs, at some stage, if 10,000 or 20,000 people have sneaked into it, you cannot detect any abnormality. The correct procedure was to apply this process to one lakh eight thousand people.”
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Q6. What role does NTA have in regard to JEE?
The Solicitor General responded,
“JEE Mains is conducted by NTA, while JEE Advanced 2024 was conducted by the Indian Institute of Technology Madras.”
The top court scheduled to hear over 40 petitions on NEET cancellation and against the NTA today. The Supreme Court Judgment will impact over 23 lakh medical aspirants seeking MBBS, BDS admission in India.