NEET-UG pleas: Supreme Court defers hearing to July 18

New Delhi:: The Supreme Court has postponed the hearing of pleas seeking the cancellation of the NEET-UG 2024 exam, held on May 5, to Thursday, July 18. The bench, led by Chief Justice D.Y. Chandrachud, noted that some parties have not yet received the affidavits from the Centre and the National Testing Agency (NTA) and need time to review them before presenting their arguments.

The decision to defer the matter was made to allow the petitioners to respond to the affidavits submitted by the Centre and the NTA. In its affidavit, the Centre reported that data analysis conducted by IIT Madras found no evidence of widespread malpractice in the exam. The NTA also claimed that the video allegedly showing the NEET paper on the Telegram app was fake.

The Union of India (UOI) emphasized that the data analysis showed no local group of candidates gained abnormal scores, indicating no mass cheating. The UOI suggested that any further investigation into beneficiaries of the alleged question paper leak would require a policy decision regarding the status of the counselling process.

The UOI assured that any candidate found to have benefited from malpractice would have their candidature canceled at any stage of the counselling process or afterward. They also mentioned that measures would be implemented to maintain the integrity of the NEET exam in the future.

The government reiterated its commitment to ensuring the sanctity of public examinations and protecting students’ interests. It highlighted the enactment of the Public Examination (Prevention of Unfair Means) Act, 2024, which came into effect on June 21, as a step towards ensuring transparency and fairness in public exams.

Additionally, the Supreme Court has asked the CBI to submit a status report on the ongoing investigation into the NEET-UG paper leak case by Wednesday.