SC seeks Centre, NTA's response on plea for CBI probe into NEET-UG 2024 'irregularities'

In a significant development amid the NEET-UG controversy, the Supreme Court on Friday (June 14)  requested responses from the Centre and NTA regarding a plea for a CBI probe into allegations of question paper leaks and other exam irregularities.

A vacation bench of justices Vikram Nath and Sandeep Mehta, which was hearing a PIL filed by Hiten Singh Kashyap, also sought responses from the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and the Bihar government within two weeks.

It said the PIL will also be taken up with other pending ones on July 8, when the top court will start functioning after the summer vacation.

Grace marks cancelled

The Centre and the National Testing Agency (NTA) had on Thursday told the Supreme Court they had cancelled the grace marks given to 1,563 candidates who took the examination for admission to MBBS and other such courses.

They will have the option to either take a re-test or forgo the compensatory marks awarded to them for the loss of time, the Centre had said.

The examination was held on May 5 across 4,750 centres and around 24 lakh candidates appeared for it. The results were expected to be declared on June 14 but were announced on June 4, apparently because the evaluation of the answer sheets was completed earlier.

Allegations of paper leaks

There have been allegations of question paper leaks in states like Bihar and other irregularities in the prestigious exam.

The allegations have led to protests in several cities and filing of cases in seven high courts as also the Supreme Court.

The NEET-UG examination is conducted by the NTA for admission to MBBS, BDS, AYUSH and other related courses in government and private institutions across the country. 

(With agency inputs)