SC Says No Systemic Breach In NEET-UG 2024, Asks NTA To Avoid ‘Flip-Flop’

New Delhi: Stating that there has been no systemic breach of NEET-UG 2024 papers and the leak was only restricted to Patna and Hazaribagh, the Supreme Court on Friday directed the National Testing Agency—the central body responsible for the conduct of the NEET-UG test— to ‘rectify deficiencies in the exam system’ using technology.

The apex court laid down various guidelines regarding paper leak.

It asked the NTA to avoid ‘flip-flops’ in the context of the NEET exam, which was conducted on May 5, as it ran into trouble a month later after the results were announced. The apex court said such ‘flip-flops’ didn’t serve students’ interests.

The judgement was delivered by a bench led by Chief Justice DY Chandrachud.

The Centre’s committee—a seven-member panel led by ex-ISRO chief K Radhakrishnan and including former AIIMS (Delhi) Director Randeep Guleria— was asked to incorporate all the guidelines the court laid in its judgement into the exam system. The panel was also asked to submit a report to the court on September 30.

What are the court’s guidelines?

The court offered eight points to guide the committee. It recommended laying out a standard operating procedure, or protocol, for conduct of qualifying exams, a review of process of allotting exam centres and enhanced identity checks of candidates, and CCTV monitoring of exam centres.

It also asked to ensure ‘secure logistics providers for ensuring non-tampering of question papers’. This is crucial as 2024 NEET-UG exam papers may have been leaked while they were being transported.

‘No full retest required’

Last week, the court had ruled out a full re-test while hearing petitions asking for the exam to be held again. The court had stated that it was not satisfied if there was a large-scale breach. However, it had admitted that the paper had been leaked. But, it stated that there was no material on record to conclude ‘the result of the exam was vitiated.’ ‘Data on record is not indicative of a systemic leak of the question paper, which would lead to the destruction of the sanctity of the exam…’ the court had observed.

The court also flagged the NTA’s decision to award grace marks to 1,563 candidates as they were given the wrong question paper. This decision was, however, later retracted. These students had to appear for a re-test.

The SC verdict came a day after the CBI filed its first chargesheet in the alleged NEET exam paper leak case. It named 13 people as accused. The CBI has lodged 6 FIRs in the case.

Looking back at the controversy

The controversy was triggered after marksheets of some successful candidates surfaced on social media. Users pointed out that a record 67 candidates secured the top rank with perfect score. Of these, around six candidates were from the same centre in Haryana. Students had been alleging that marks were randomly reduced or increased for several candidates. There have been allegations of paper leak too.