Supreme Court stays hearing of NEET-UG petitions in high courts
What's the story
The Supreme Court has issued a notice on a petition filed by the National Testing Agency (NTA) to transfer pleas related to the 2024 National Eligibility cum Entrance Test-Undergraduate (NEET-UG) from high courts to the apex court. Consequently, it halted all proceedings filed in Rajasthan, Calcutta and Bombay High courts related to the alleged paper leak in the NEET-UG examination.
Allegations
Fresh notices to the Centre and NTA
The Supreme Court has also served fresh notices to the Centre and NTA following a petition by students who claimed to have lost 45 minutes during the NEET-UG exam at a Meghalaya center. These students are seeking to join the 1,563 candidates who received grace marks and were given an option to retake the exam on June 23. The case is set for its next hearing on July 8.
Investigation
Supreme Court seeks response from NTA on NEET-UG 2024 allegations
The SC has been hearing pleas alleging paper leak in the examination following the results of NEET-UG 2024 on June 4. Petitioners have requested the court to recall the NEET-UG 2024 results and mandate a retest. During the previous hearing, a Supreme Court bench told NTA, "If there is 0.001% negligence on the part of anyone, it should be thoroughly dealt with. All these matters ought not to be treated as adversarial litigation."
Retest
NTA to cancel scorecards of candidates who received grace marks
The allegations of irregularities in the NEET exam have also sparked protests in several cities across India. The examination was conducted on May 5 at 4,750 centers nationwide with approximately 24 lakh candidates participating. The results were announced on June 4, ten days earlier than initially expected due to early completion of answer sheet evaluation. When the results were announced, a staggering 67 students had achieved the perfect score of 720 marks.