SC refuses to cancel NEET-UG 2024, says retest would hit 2 mn students

The Supreme Court, in its verdict in the NEET-UG 2024 case on Tuesday (July 23), refused to cancel the exam, saying a retest would have “serious consequences on the 2 million students” who took the exam, even though the leak of the paper was “not in dispute”.

A Bench comprising Chief Justice D Y Chandrachud and Justices JB Pardiwala and Manoj Misra heard submissions from a battery of lawyers, including Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, appearing for the Centre and the National Testing Agency (NTA), and senior advocates Narender Hooda, Sanjay Hegde and Mathews Nedumapra, for around four days.

Operative part of judgment

The Bench dictated the operative part of the judgment keeping in mind the future of over two million students and said a detailed judgement will follow.

CJI DY Chandrachud said the demand for the cancellation of the exam was not justified because there was no material to show that the sanctity of the entire exam had been affected. “At the present stage there is absence of material on record sufficient to lead to the conclusion that the result of exam was vitiated or there was systemic breach in the sanctity of the exam,” he explained.

Retest to affect students: SC

The CBI has filed six reports and disclosures indicate the investigation is continuing, he said. However, the central agency had indicated that so far, it seems around 155 students in Hazaribagh and Patna appeared to have benefitted from the fraud. He added that if the ongoing investigation by the CBI reveals the involvement of more beneficiaries, action will be taken against them.

“The court is mindful of the fact that directing a fresh NEET-UG would have serious consequences on the 2 million students appearing for the exam, including (1) destruction of admission schedule to medical courses; (2) effects on the course of medical education; (3) impact on the availability of medical professionals in future and (4) serious element of disadvantage to marginalised students,” he said.

NEET row

The NTA and the Union Education Ministry have been at the centre of a massive political row and protests by students over alleged large-scale malpractices ranging from question paper leaks to impersonation in the test held on May 5.

The National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test-Undergraduate (NEET-UG) is conducted by the NTA for admissions to MBBS, BDS, AYUSH and other related courses in government and private institutions across the country.

The NEET-UG 2024 was taken by 23.33 lakh students at 4,750 centres in 571 cities, including in 14 overseas, on May 5.

(With agency inputs)