The Supreme Court on Thursday heard fresh petitions on the alleged paper leaks and malpractices in connection with the National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test-Undergraduate 2024 (NEET-UG 2024) row. Hearing the pleas, the vacation bench of Justice Vikram Nath and Justice SVN Bhatti, refused to stay counselling of NEET-UG 2024.
The apex court also sought the centre’s response to various pleas filed by students.
In a big relief to the National Testing Agency (NTA), the bench took cognisance of its plea to transfer cases to the Supreme Court and halted the pending proceedings before Rajasthan, Bombay and Calcutta high courts regarding the paper leak.
It also issued notice on NTA’s transfer pleas and kept all the petitions for hearing on July 8.
Pleas In SC
Of the fresh pleas, eight regarding the anomalies in the NEET-UG examination are filed by 56 students. One petition is also filed by the Student Federation of India (SFI)–a unit of the Communist Party–seeking directions to cancel the examination and conduct it afresh.
These pleas sought direction to the Central Government and the agencies conducting this examination to take appropriate steps to maintain transparency and prevent paper leaks and the use of unfair means in future exams.
The Supreme Court also heard the petition filed by 20 students demanding the irregularities in the entrance examination to be investigated by an independent agency or the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) or any other independent agency under the supervision of the top court.
The plea demanded a court-monitored academic and forensic investigation of the students who got more than 620 marks in this examination.
Further, the top court will also hear 10 petitions filed by the National Testing Agency (NTA) demanding the pleas filed in other high courts of the country be transferred to the Supreme Court.
There have been allegations of question paper leaks in states like Bihar and other irregularities in the prestigious exam. The allegations have led to protests in several cities and the filing of petitions in several high courts as well as the Supreme Court.
On Wednesday, the Supreme Court refused to halt the NEET counselling. Prior to that, the court asked NTA to admit if any irregularities were found in the conduct of the NEET (UG) examination.
The bench of Justices Vikram Nath and SVN Bhatti remarked that even “0.001 per cent negligence” in the conduct of the NEET exam should be thoroughly dealt with and the matter should not be dealt with as adversarial litigation.
The top court, last week, said that it would not pass any ex-parte CBI probe into the matter. However, it had asked the NTA to file its reply to the fresh petitions seeking a CBI/SIT probe into the allegation of paper leak within two weeks.
Observing that students have to work hard while preparing for these examinations, the apex court has said the litigation pertaining to the National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test (Undergraduate)-2024 ought not be treated as adversarial.
The Centre and the National Testing Agency on June 13 told the top court that they had cancelled the grace marks given to 1,563 candidates, who took the examination for admission to MBBS and other such courses.
Education Ministry Seeks Report from Bihar Police
The Union education ministry sought a report from the Bihar Police’s Economic Offences Unit on Wednesday regarding alleged irregularities in the conduct of the National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test (UG) 2024 in Patna.
“Regarding certain irregularities alleged in the conduct of the examination in Patna, a detailed report has been sought from the Economic Offences Unit, Bihar Police. The government will take further action on receipt of this report,” a senior official of the ministry said.
“The government is committed to ensuring the sanctity of examinations and protect the interest of students. It is reiterated that any individual or organisation found involved in this matter will face the strictest action,” the official added.
AAP Leaders Meet Bengal Guv, Demand His Intervention
The Aam Aadmi Party’s (AAP’s) West Bengal leaders on Wednesday called on Governor C V Ananda Bose at Raj Bhavan over the alleged NEET scam and sought his intervention into the matter.
“We submitted a deputation to Governor C V Ananda Bose this evening at the Raj Bhavan regarding the alleged NEET scam. He heard us and assured of looking into the matter,” AAP leader and spokesperson Arnab Maitra.
“We demand an impartial investigation and punishment of culprits. On one hand the current government is talking about ‘Vikshit Bharat’ by 2047 and on the other, this kind of corruption is flourishing in our country. How will these fake doctors take our nation forward? We want justice for the NEET candidates,” he said.
“This is one of the biggest scams of the BJP-led central government. The BJP is playing with the future of lakhs of students” Maitra said.
Centre Rejects Allegations
Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan rejected the allegations of paper leak in NEET-UG, saying there was no evidence of it.
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