Avoid ‘flip flops’ in NEET exam, rectify deficiencies: SC tells NTA

Reading out the reasons behind the top court's order pronounced on July 23, a bench of Chief Justice DY Chandrachud and Justices JB Pardiwala and Manoj Misra said the National Testing Agency (NTA) must avoid “flip-flops” which was noticed this year as the same does not serve the interest of students. The NTA was also asked to “rectify deficiencies in the exam system.”

The NEET examination meant for aspiring medical professionals was held nationwide on May 5 this year but ran into rough weather a month later when the results were declared.

Panel to review NTA's functioning

The bench issued a slew of directions and expanded the remit of the Centre-appointed panel headed by former ISRO chief K Radhakrishnan to review the NTA’s functioning and recommend exam reforms.

It said since the remit of the panel has been expanded, the committee would submit its report by September 30 on various measures to rectify deficiencies in the examination system.

The bench said the Radhakrishnan panel should consider framing standard operating procedure for adoption of technological advancements to strengthen the examination system.

It said the issues which have arisen during the NEET-UG examination should be rectified by the Centre.

'No systemic breach'

The court was pronouncing its verdict containing reasons for not cancelling the 2024 NEET-UG medical entrance examination despite a raging controversy over paper leak allegations and other irregularities.

It said it has highlighted all the deficiencies in the structural processes of the NTA. “We cannot afford this for the betterment of the students.”

Asking the Centre to rectify the deficiencies this year itself, the court, however, said there was no systemic breach of the NEET papers and that the leak was only limited to Patna and Hazaribagh.

July 23 verdict

On July 23, the top court dismissed the pleas seeking cancellation and re-test of the controversy-ridden exam, holding that there was no evidence on record to conclude that it was "vitiated" on account of "systemic breach" of its sanctity.

The top court, while pronouncing the order, said its detailed reasons would follow. The interim verdict came as a shot in the arm for the embattled NDA government and the NTA, which were facing strong criticism and protests, on streets and in Parliament, over alleged large-scale malpractices like question paper leak, fraud and impersonation in the prestigious test held on May 5.

Over 23 lakh students gave the National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test-Undergraduate (NEET-UG) in 2024 for admissions to MBBS, BDS, AYUSH and other related courses.

(With inputs from agencies)