The Supreme Court on Tuesday declined to order a retest for the NEET-UG examination, stating that there was no substantial evidence of widespread issues that compromised the exam’s integrity.
A three-judge bench, led by Chief Justice D Y Chandrachud and including Justices J B Pardiwala and Manoj Misra, delivered the verdict after reviewing several petitions from students. These students had claimed there were malpractices and irregularities during the exam.
“Data on record is not indicative of a systemic leak of the question paper which would indicate a disruption of the sanctity of the exam. On the material placed on record, at the present stage, there is absence of materials on record to show results of the exam was vitiated or there was a systemic breach in the conduct of the exam,” the court noted.
“For the above reasons, we are of the considered view that ordering the cancellation of the entire NEET UG 2024 exam is neither justified on application of settled principles propounded by the decisions of this court (nor) on the basis of material on record,” the court said.
The court also mentioned that the counselling process for NEET-UG 2024 is expected to start from July 24.
Chief Justice Chandrachud acknowledged that there was an exam paper leak in Hazaribagh and Patna. However, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), which took over the investigation, submitted status reports on July 10.
While announcing the decision, the Supreme Court said that there’s no need for a retest because research by IIT Madras showed no mass paper leak. The CBI confirmed that the leak was limited to only two locations.
The Director of IIT Delhi submitted a report to the Supreme Court after forming a three-member expert committee. The report stated that option 4 was the correct answer to a controversial Physics question in the NEET-UG 2024 exam.
Initially, the National Testing Agency (NTA) had awarded 4 marks to candidates who chose option 2 as the answer. However, after the IIT Delhi report, these marks will be deducted, affecting the overall ranking of about 4 lakh candidates.
The Supreme Court noted that ordering a fresh NEET UG exam would have severe consequences for over 24 lakh students who took the test. This would disrupt the admission schedule, affect medical education, and disadvantage marginalized groups who benefit from reserved seats.
“The disruption of admission scheduled, cascading effects on the course of medical education, impact on the availability of qualified medical professionals in the future and seriously disadvantageous for the marginalised group for whom the reservation was made in the allocation of seats,” the court said.
The NEET-UG exam was conducted on May 5, and the results were declared on June 4. Around 23.33 lakh candidates competed for 1.08 lakh seats, including 56,000 seats in government hospitals and 52,000 in private institutions.
Petitioners had asked the Supreme Court to order a retest, arguing that the question paper was leaked and that there were systemic flaws in the exam process. They claimed no standard operating procedures (SOPs) were followed, and the exam was conducted unfairly, lacking CCTV surveillance.
NEET-UG, managed by the National Testing Agency (NTA), is the gateway for admissions to MBBS, BDS, AYUSH, and other related courses in both government and private institutions across India. The 2024 exam was held at 4,750 centers, with around 24 lakh students appearing for it.