‘Will have serious consequences on …’: 5 reasons why Supreme Court ruled against NEET-UG 2024 re-exam

NEET-UG 2024 paper leak case: The Supreme Court of India on Tuesday, July 23, rejected petitions calling for the cancellation and re-test of NEET-UG 2024 amid ongoing controversy. The Supreme Court cited a lack of data indicating a systemic leak of question papers and other malpractices and refused to cancel the NEET-UG 2024 exam.

A bench comprising Chief Justice D Y Chandrachud and Justices JB Pardiwala and Manoj Misra heard submissions for around four days 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, who represented the petitioners.

An expert panel from the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Delhi informed the Supreme Court that the fourth option was the correct answer to a disputed physics question in the NEET-UG 2024 exam. This clarification was expected to affect the scores of more than four lakh candidates, including 44 students who achieved perfect scores in the examination.

NEET-UG 2024 Paper Leak case: Why SC dismissed re-test plea?

-The Supreme Court noted that no data was recorded to indicate a systemic leak of question papers and other malpractices. “There is the absence of material to conclude that the result of the NEET-UG 2024 exam is vitiated or there is a systemic breach,” CJI Chandrachud said.

-The bench, however, said that the question paper leak occurred in Hazaribagh and Patna, and that was not in dispute.

-The SC bench also noted that ordering the cancellation of the entire exam was 'not justified' on the application of settled principles propounded by the court based on material on record.

-SC said that counselling and other admission processes for NEET-UG 2024 will continue. The Supreme Court will give guidelines as to the future conduct of exams.

-CJI Chandrachud-led bench stated that the tainted students can be differentiated from the untainted students who wrote the NEET-UG 2024 examination.

- SC said that if the CBI probe reveals an increased number of beneficiaries of malpractices, then action shall be taken against any such student at any stage, notwithstanding the completion of the counselling process.

“No student revealed to have been in this fraud or a beneficiary would be entitled to claim any vested right in continuance of admission,” SC stated.

-The Supreme Court said that directing a fresh NEET UG 2024 exam would have serious consequences, affecting over 24 lakh students who appeared in this exam and cause disruption of the admission schedule.

-The Supreme Court further noted that a re-test of the NEET-UG 2024 examination would have cascading effects on the course of medical education, impact the availability of qualified medical professionals in the future, and seriously disadvantage the marginalised group for whom the reservation was made in the allocation of seats.

The National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test-Undergraduate (NEET-UG) conducted by the NTA sparked a major political controversy and resulted in student protests. Allegations of widespread malpractices, including question paper leaks and impersonation, marred the exam held on May 5. At least 23.33 lakh students across 4,750 centres in 571 cities, including 14 overseas locations, wrote the NEET-UG 2024 exam.