Over 50 NEET-UG candidates who passed their exams move to South Carolina to avoid exam cancellation

New Delhi: Over 50 Gujarat-based NEET-UG candidates, including several who stood first, have moved the Supreme Court seeking a direction to restrain the Centre and the National Testing Agency from cancelling the controversial exam.

They have requested the Supreme Court to direct the Union Education Ministry to investigate, identify and take strict action against students and others who indulged in unfair practices like leaking of documents and impersonation during the NEET-UG examination held on May 5 this year.

The fresh petition by 56 students was filed days before a Supreme Court bench headed by Chief Justice DY Chandrachud is scheduled to hear as many as 26 petitions seeking relief such as a retest and an inquiry into the conduct of the exam plagued by allegations of malpractices.

The National Eligibility and Entrance Test (NEET-UG) is conducted by the National Testing Agency (NTA) for admission to MBBS, BDS, AYUSH and other related courses in government and private institutions across the country. The NEET-UG, 2024 was held at 4,750 centres on May 5 and around 24 lakh candidates appeared for the exam.

Allegations of irregularities, including leaked documents, have led to protests in several cities and clashes between rival political parties.

Petitions seeking the cancellation of the exam, a retest and a high-level investigation are due to be heard in the Supreme Court on July 8.

The fresh petition by Sidhharth Komal Singla and 55 other students was filed by advocate Devendra Singh.

He said, “The Hon’ble Court may further direct the respondents (Centre and NTA) not to conduct the NEET-UG again…as it would not only be unreasonable and harsh on honest and hardworking students but would also lead to violation of the right to education and hence violation of Article 14 (right to equality) of the Constitution.”

The petition sought a direction to the Centre and the NTA to identify and punish candidates who adopted unfair means, identify the centres and take appropriate action where “a compromise to the guidelines laid down for NEET-UG 2024 examinations has been made”.

The petitioners are young students aged around 17-18 years and to fulfil their dream of becoming a doctor, they gave 100 per cent of their strength and passed the examination after hard and constant work of more than 3-4 years, he said.

However, the continuous news coverage about the cancellation of the exam and the possibility of a retest for everyone is creating mental pressure and causing unnecessary stress, he said.

If the retest is held following “hype created by misleading media coverage,” honest students who pass will face difficulties, he added.

Singla, the main petitioner, has stood 778th in the merit list of NEET-UG 2024, the plea said, adding, “He has always been an exceptional student who in Class 12 stood at the top of his school with 96.60%. It is further stated that among the other co-petitioners, there are students who have even secured 1st rank…”

On June 11, while hearing a petition seeking re-conduct of examination in view of alleged leakage of question papers and other malpractices, the Supreme Court had observed that the sanctity of NEET-UG had been affected and sought replies from the Centre and the NTA on the petition. It, however, refused to stay counselling of successful candidates.

On June 13, the Centre and the NTA had told the court that they had cancelled the grace points awarded to 1,563 candidates. They were given the option of retaking the exam or forfeiting the compensatory points awarded for the time lost.

The NTA announced the revised rank list on Monday after releasing the results of the retest held on June 23.

A total of 67 students secured a perfect score of 720, unheard of in the history of NTA, with six from a Haryana centre making it to the list, raising suspicions of irregularities in the exam held on May 5. It has been alleged that grace marks contributed to 67 students sharing the top rank.

The number of candidates sharing the top rank in NEET-UG has come down from 67 to 61 in the revised results announced by the NTA.