The NEET-UG 2024 exam was conducted on May 5. The National Testing Agency (NTA) had earlier released the results by city and center. The Supreme Court began reviewing petitions concerning the NEET-UG exam, which has been mired in controversy.

Chief Justice DY Chandrachud, Justice JB Pardiwala, and Justice Manoj Mishra are addressing the matter, highlighting its broader social implications. During the proceedings, the petitioners’ counsel informed the Court that the NTA had acknowledged a paper leak and the distribution of the leaked papers via WhatsApp. Senior advocate Narendra Hooda, representing the petitioners, noted that Bihar Police investigation reports indicated the leak occurred on May 4, prior to the question papers being submitted to the designated banks.

 

40+ Petitions! Supreme Court Questions Integrity of NEET: The Supreme Court noted that while it is established that e-rickshaws were used to transport question papers, the distributed image was of the OMR sheet, not the question paper itself. Solicitor General Tushar Mehta presented the statements of the accused, and Chief Justice DY Chandrachud remarked that these statements suggest students were preparing to memorize answers on the evening of May 4, implying that the NEET-UG 2024 leak occurred before that date. The Court is now assessing whether the leak was confined to Hazaribagh and Patna or if it was more widespread.

The petitioner’s counsel argued that, according to the NTA, the papers were sent on April 24 and arrived at the paper bank on May 3, indicating that they were in private hands during that period. The petitioner’s lawyer also mentioned that the principal of Hardayal School Jhajjar had collected question papers from both SBI and Canara Bank. However, the papers intended for distribution were from SBI, not Canara Bank. CJI Chandrachud questioned why the Jhajjar center in-charge collected papers from Canara Bank if they were supposed to come from SBI.

 

40+ Petitions! Supreme Court Questions Integrity of NEET: The Supreme Court is currently reviewing over 40 petitions related to the NEET-UG 2024 exam. These petitions include requests from the National Testing Agency (NTA) to transfer cases pending in various High Courts to the Supreme Court. The NEET-UG 2024 exam took place on May 5, and the NTA had previously released results by city and center.

An analysis of the NTA’s data showed that candidates who were allegedly involved in paper leaks and other irregularities performed poorly. Conversely, some centers saw a high number of successful candidates. The data covered over 32 lakh candidates from 4,750 centers.

On July 11, the Supreme Court had postponed hearings on petitions requesting the cancellation of the exam, a re-examination, and investigations into alleged irregularities, due to incomplete responses from the Center and NTA.

During a hearing on July 8, the Court remarked that the integrity of NEET-UG 2024 had been compromised. The bench suggested that if the exam process is found to be fundamentally flawed, a re-examination might be necessary. The exam, conducted on May 5, involved over 23.33 lakh candidates across 4,750 centers in 571 cities, including 14 international locations.