Coming down heavily on the Centre and the National Testing Agency (NTA) over the issue of alleged NEET-UG paper leaks, the Supreme Court on Tuesday said that even if there is 0.001 per cent negligence in conducting the exam, it should be thoroughly dealt with.
“If there is 0.001 per cent negligence on the part of anyone, it should be thoroughly dealt with. All these matters ought not to be treated as adversarial litigation,” the top court observed.
A vacation bench of Justices Vikram Nath and SVN Bhatti, told the counsels appearing for the Centre as the NTA that students have prepared hard for the exams and that their hard work can’t be forgotten.
Asking the NTA to act fair, the court said that the agency must admit if there is any mistake and present an action plan.
“If there is a mistake, say yes, this is a mistake, and this is the action we are going to take. At least that inspires confidence in your performance,” the court said.
Several petitions have been filed before the Supreme Court over alleged paper leak of NEET-UG 2024 examination and awarding grace marks.
While hearing the pleas, the top court issued notices to the NTA and Centre and asked for their response within two weeks.
The top court has clubbed these petitions and posted the matter for hearing on July 8.
Some of the petitions had also sought the court’s order to stay the counseling and demanded fresh exams.
However, the court refused to stay the counseling but allowed NTA to cancel the grace marks given to 1,563 NEET-UG 2024 candidates and that they will have a chance to reappear for the exam.
The exam for 1,563 NEET-UG 2024 candidates will be held on June 23 and the results will be announced on June 30.
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