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New Delhi, August 2 (IANS) Declining to order a re-test, the Supreme Court on Friday reiterated that there was no systemic breach of the NEET-UG 2024 exam except in Patna and Jharkhand’s Hazaribagh.
A bench headed by CJI Chandrachud deprecated the National Testing Agency (NTA) to award compensatory marks to 1,563 students on account of loss of time, which was later recalled after several petitions were filed before the top court. Later, these candidates were given the option to appear in a re-test or to appear in counselling on the basis of actual marks obtained in the exam without normalisation.
“We have said that NTA must now avoid flip-flops it made in this case as it does not serve the interests of students,” observed the Bench, also comprising Justices J.B. Pardiwala and Manoj Misra.
Referring to NTA’s decision to treat two options as the correct answers to a question, the apex court remarked that as many as 44 candidates were able to secure full marks on account of the ambiguous question.
It asked the NTA to re-tally the marks afresh in view of the opinion rendered by the expert panel of IIT Delhi in respect of a contentious physics question.
Further, the top court expanded the remit of the High-Level Committee of Experts constituted by the Centre in the wake of the NEET-UG examination controversy.
On June 26, the Union Ministry of Education established a seven-member expert panel -- headed by Dr K. Radhakrishnan, former Chairman ISRO and Chairman, Board of Governors, IIT Kanpur -- to recommend effective measures for the conduct of transparent, smooth and fair examinations by the National Testing Agency (NTA).
The High-Level Committee of Experts was formed after the SC asked the Centre to detail the steps taken to ensure the sanctity of the NEET in the future.
Now, the High-Level Committee of Experts has been directed to formulate a Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) regarding the timeline for registration, change of exam centres, sealing of OMR sheets and other processes related to the conduct of exams.
“The report of the committee shall be submitted to the Union Ministry of Education by September 30. The Ministry of Education shall take a decision on the recommendations made by the committee within a period of one month from receiving the report,” the SC ordered.
Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, the second highest law officer of the Centre, said that the judgment will be implemented in its letter and spirit by the Union government.
BJP slams LoP Rahul after SC verdict on NEET
Hours after the Supreme Court in its verdict declined to order a re-test and reiterated that there was no systemic breach of the NEET-UG 2024 exam except at Hazaribagh and Patna, the BJP slammed Leader of Opposition (LoP) Rahul Gandhi for his frequent criticisms of the government on the issue.
Amit Malviya, incharge of the BJP's National Information & Technology Department took to his social media handle on X on Friday saying, “Third Time Fail Rahul Gandhi must apologise to the nation on the floor of the Parliament.”
The Supreme Court on Friday while refusing to order a re-test said the National Testing Agency (NTA) must avoid the "flip-flops" it made in relation to the exam as such "flip-flops" in a national exam do not serve the interests of the students.
The apex court was pronouncing its verdict containing reasons for not cancelling the medical entrance examination which had become mired in controversy over paper leak allegations and other irregularities.
A three-judge Bench, headed by CJI, DY Chandrachud, also said the expert committee must rectify the deficiencies in the exam system.
Buoyed by the top court’s decision not to order a re-test, the BJP which has been repeatedly asking Rahul Gandhi to apologise for his hard remarks on NEET tore into him.
Amit Malviya posted on X, “He purposely used the opportunity to destroy confidence of students in the country's examination system, for political gains.
“Just like he is trying to weaken people’s faith in other institutions like the Armed Forces, Judiciary and ECI. He must apologise to the student community and keep them off his sinister, ugly politics.”
The Congress MP had in the past criticised Prime Minister Narendra Modi for “remaining silent” over the alleged irregularities in the NEET-UG 2024 examination.
“Prime Minister Narendra Modi, as usual, remains silent on the issue of over 24 lakh students' futures being jeopardised by the NEET exam scandal. Arrests in Bihar, Gujarat, and Haryana clearly indicate that there was a planned and organised corruption in the exam process, with these BJP-ruled states becoming the epicentre of the paper leak,” Rahul Gandhi had stated in a post on X in Hindi.
The LoP's attack had come shortly after the Supreme Court pulled up the Centre and NTA saying that even if there was "0.001 per cent negligence" on the part of anyone in the conduct of the NEET-UG 2024 examination, it should be thoroughly dealt with.
