SC seeks responses from Centre, NTA on pleas for cancelling NEET-UG 2024

The Supreme Court has sought responses from the Centre, the National Testing Agency (NTA), and others on petitions seeking the cancelation of NEET-UG 2024, and a court-monitored probe into the alleged irregularities in the medical entrance exam.

Transfer of petitions

A Vacation Bench of Justices Vikram Nath and SVN Bhatti on Thursday (June 20) also sought responses from the parties on separate pleas filed by the NTA seeking the transfer of some pending petitions from the high courts to the apex court.

The court stayed proceedings in the petitions filed in the High Courts of Rajasthan, Calcutta, and Bombay regarding the alleged paper leak and discrepancies in the exam held on May 5. The NTA is seeking the transfer of these petitions from the High Court to the Supreme Court.

The Bench posted these pleas for hearing on July 8.

Plea seeks fresh exams

One of the petitions, filed by 20 students who appeared in the medical entrance exam, also sought a direction to the NTA and others to conduct the test afresh.

While hearing separate pleas concerning the National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test (Undergraduate)-2024 examination, the apex court had on June 18 said even if there was “0.001 per cent negligence” on the part of anyone in the conduct of the examination, it should be thoroughly dealt with.

The NTA conducts the all-India pre-medical entrance test.

24 lakh candidates affected

While hearing separate petitions raising grievances over the NEET-UG 2024, the apex court had last week sought responses from the Centre and the NTA on a plea for a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) probe into allegations of question paper leak and other irregularities in the exam.

The examination was held on May 5 across 4,750 centres and around 24 lakh candidates took it.

(With agency inputs)