The Centre told the Supreme Court that Prime Minister Narendra Modi is personally monitoring the government’s response to the NEET-UG paper leak controversy. Talking about the cancellation decision, it said he is overseeing every step taken very carefully.
The Centre told the Supreme Court that Prime Minister Narendra Modi is personally monitoring the government’s response to the NEET-UG paper leak controversy and the decision to cancel the examination that followed.
Solicitor General Tushar Mehta made this submission to the apex court while answering queries on the probe into the alleged leak and the steps being taken to ensure such incidents do not recur in future examinations.
During the hearing, the Supreme Court asked the Centre to file a detailed affidavit describing how the investigation is being carried out, and what mechanisms are in place to maintain transparency and accountability in the examination process.
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Justice Pamidighantam Sri Narasimha said that incidents like paper leaks are very traumatic for students and asked whether shortcomings existed either in the recommendations of the high-powered committee or in how those recommendations were implemented.
The court also referred to the UPSC examination system, emphasising the need for credibility and close monitoring.
The Centre informed the court that new mechanisms and safeguards have been introduced for the NEET-UG examination scheduled for June 21.
The Supreme Court has posted the matter for further hearing in the second week of July.
The proceedings arise from petitions challenging the cancellation of the NEET-UG examination conducted by the National Testing Agency, following allegations of paper leaks and other irregularities.
The undergraduate-level NEET conducted on May 3 by NTA for admissions to medical education programmes was cancelled on May 12 following allegations of a paper leak, which are currently being investigated by the CBI.
Earlier, The medical body urged the Supreme Court to either restructure NTA or replace it with a robust and autonomous system for conducting NEET-UG. It argued that recurring paper leaks amount to a direct assault on the fundamental rights of more than 22.7 lakh students.