The Central government has told the Supreme Court that in the absence of any proof of any large-scale breach of confidentiality in conducting the NEET-UG 2024 examination held on 5 May 2024, it would not be rational to scrap the entire examination as it would “seriously jeopardise” the prospects of the lakhs of honest candidates who had attempted the question paper.
The Central government also stated that the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has been asked to conduct investigation into the entire gamut of allegations of irregularities, including conspiracy, cheating, impersonation, breach of trust and other issues.
In an affidavit that was filed today in response to several petitions that have been filed before the top court, the Central government stated: “…In the absence of any proof of any large-scale breach of confidentiality in a pan-India examination, it would not be rational to scrap the entire examination and the results already declared. It is submitted that in any examination, there are competing rights that have been created whereby the interests of a large number of students who have taken the examination without adopting any alleged unfair means must not also be jeopardised. Scrapping the exam in entirety would seriously jeopardise the lakhs of honest candidates who attempted the question paper in 2024.”
The Central government’s affidavit comes in response to a batch of petitions which have alleged paper leak, malpractices and other irregularities in the conduct of NEET-UG 2024 and have sought direction for the recall of NEET-UG 2024 results and to conduct the examination afresh. The petitions would come up for hearing on Monday ~ 8 July.
Telling the top court that the Central government is committed towards conducting all the competitive examinations in a “fair and transparent manner”, the government’s affidavit further states: “The Union of India duly appreciates that the confidentiality of the question papers is the utmost priority in any examination and that if due to some criminality at the behest of some criminal elements, the confidentiality has been breached, the Union of India submits that the said person must be dealt sternly and with the full force of law to ensure that they are punished.”
The affidavit says that the plea seeking the cancellation of the NEET-UG 2024 and its reconduct is based on “conjectures” and “surmises” must be rejected.
It has also informed the top court that a high-level committee has been constituted to suggest measures for effective, smooth and transparent conduct of the examinations by the National Testing Agency (NTA). The committee, the affidavit says, has started its deliberations and has invited suggestions from the public on reform measures, it added.
In the course of a hearing during the summer vacation of the top court, a vacation bench had told the Central government and the NTA that if there is any negligence in conducting NEET-UG exam, it should be dealt with thoroughly.
The top court has already refused to stay the counselling of NEET-UG, 2024, that is set to commence on 6 July 2024.
Clearing the NEET-UG examination, conducted by NTA, is a pre-requisite for admission to undergraduate medical courses – MBBS, BDS and AYUSH and other related medical courses in government and private institutions across the country.