Today(on 22nd July), The Supreme Court will hear petitions today seeking the cancellation of NEET-UG results and a re-examination. Previously, the SC directed the NTA to publish city and center-wise results without disclosing student identities, which were posted on the NTA website on Saturday.
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NEW DELHI: Today(on 22nd July), The Supreme Court is set to hear a series of petitions, which seek the cancellation of the NEET-UG results and demand a re-examination. During the last hearing, the SC bench, comprising Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud and Justices JB Pardiwala and Manoj Misra, directed the National Testing Agency (NTA) to publish city and centre-wise results of NEET-UG without revealing the identity of the students. The results were published on the NTA website on Saturday.
Data shared by the NTA reveals that candidates who allegedly benefited from the paper leak and other irregularities did not perform well overall. However, certain centers displayed a high concentration of top scorers. The performance of candidates from the scrutinized centers, namely Oasis School in Hazaribagh, Jharkhand, Hardayal Public School in Jhajjar, Haryana, and Jay Jalaram International School in Godhra, Gujarat, was notably below par.
On July 18, the court decided to focus its scrutiny on two specific instances of paper leaks in Patna and Hazaribagh. The decision on whether to annul the examination and order a retest would depend on whether the breaches were localized or systemic. More than 23 lakh students had taken the test on May 5 at 4,750 centers across 571 cities, including 14 cities overseas. On July 18, the NTA informed the SC that the counseling process for UG medical admissions would likely begin on July 24.
The Supreme Court will continue hearing arguments on July 22 regarding a series of petitions seeking the cancellation, a retest, and a court-supervised probe into alleged misconduct in the NEET-UG 2024 exam, which was held on May 5. The bench, including Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud, Justices JB Pardiwala, and Manoj Misra, met on July 18 and directed the NTA to announce the NEET UG center-wise results by July 20.
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Timeline of Events Related to the NEET-UG 2024 Supreme Court Hearings:
- July 18: During the hearing, Chief Justice Chandrachud presented two scenarios for the NEET-UG paper leak: before May 3, when the papers were in bank custody, or on May 5, when the papers had left the banks. The CJI inquired into the number of students who changed examination centers and the center allocation procedure. The Supreme Court subsequently directed the NTA to disclose the NEET UG results according to center and state by July 20, 2024, in response to petitioners’ pleas for more transparency. Additionally, the Supreme Court instructed the Bihar police and the Economic Offences Wing (EOW) to submit their inquiry reports.
- July 11: CJI Chandrachud’s bench adjourned the hearing after the petitioners’ counsel requested more time to analyze affidavits from the Centre and NTA. The bench further observed that, in accordance with earlier directives, the CBI had turned in its investigative status report.
- July 8: The court reviewed the NEET-UG 2024 irregularity controversy and showed reluctance to order a large-scale retest owing to logistics and budgetary considerations. Recognizing the question paper leak, the SC inquired about the number of beneficiaries and the steps taken against them.
- June 21: On June 21, the Supreme Court rejected the petition to halt the NEET-UG 2024 counseling process. The NTA was notified, and additional pleas were tagged with outstanding petitions.
- June 18: The Supreme Court sent a notice to the NTA, requesting a response to the complaints about purported document leaks and misconduct. The court emphasized the necessity of addressing any negligent conduct, noting that even a 0.001% negligence should be thoroughly dealt with.
The National Eligibility and Entrance Test (UG) 2024, administered by the NTA, was held on May 5, 2024, across over 4,000 centers in 571 cities for nearly 24 lakh applicants. A retest for 1,563 applicants was held on June 23, with 813 candidates taking the exam. The regular NEET-UG results were released on June 4, followed by revised results on June 30.