NTA opposes cancellation of NEET-UG 2024 in Supreme Court

The Centre on Friday told the Supreme Court that the National Eligibility and Entrance Examination (NEET UG) held on May 5 should not be cancelled as there is no evidence of large-scale breach of confidentiality of the exam. The NEET UG exam is mired in allegations including malpractices, massive leakage of question papers and cheating.

The central government’s education ministry has told the Supreme Court that cancelling the NEET UG exam and conducting a re-examination would not be rational in the absence of any evidence of large-scale breach of confidentiality in a pan-India exam.

She also submitted that in any examination, competing rights have been created, so the interests of a large number of students who have appeared in the examination without adopting any allegedly unfair means should not be equally jeopardised. The affidavit was filed in response to a series of petitions alleging irregularities in the NEET UG, including leakage of examination papers.

The matter is scheduled to be heard by a bench comprising CJI DY Chandrachud, Justice JB Pardiwala and Justice Manoj Misra on July 8. The apex court will primarily examine whether the review was compromised on May 5 and whether a review would be necessary.

The Centre clarified that it does not consider the present dispute as an adversarial one and fully understands the concerns of the candidates who appeared for the NEET UG 2024 examination. The affidavit stated that the Centre has adopted a solution-oriented approach in this matter.

The Centre said that regarding the alleged cases of impersonation, cheating and malpractices in the examination, the CBI has been asked to conduct a thorough investigation.

He also said that a high-level committee has been constituted to suggest measures for efficient, smooth and transparent conduct of examinations by the National Testing Agency.

The affidavit added that a law aimed at combating cheating and leakage of documents in public examinations, the Prevention of Unfair Means in Public Examinations Act, 2024, came into force from June 21.

On June 11, the Supreme Court directed the NTA to respond to the allegations of leakage of NEET UG papers. Further, the Supreme Court said it would not stop counselling students regarding admission to medical colleges.