On Friday, the Supreme Court dispensed notices to involved private entities regarding a petition by the National Testing Agency (NTA) that sought the transfer of ongoing litigation from various high courts to the apex court, aiming to streamline the judicial process concerning the NEET-UG controversy.
A special vacation bench, comprising Justices Vikram Nath and Sandeep Mehta, acknowledged the NTA counsel’s argument. The counsel pointed out that numerous petitions demanding the annulment of the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test Undergraduate, 2024 due to alleged examination malpractices, including question paper leaks, are pending across several high courts.
“Serve notice,” the bench declared, scheduling a hearing for July 8. Concurrently, the NTA expressed its intention to retract three additional petitions that sought to centralize similar cases in the Supreme Court. These cases involved the awarding of grace marks to 1,563 examinees due to time loss during the May 5 examination.
The NTA’s representative clarified that the matter had reached a resolution, and the high courts would be informed about the decision to revoke the compensatory marks initially awarded to 1,536 candidates, as well as the subsequent Supreme Court directive issued on June 13.
In the midst of the NEET-UG examination dispute, the Centre and the NTA announced to the Supreme Court on Thursday that they had rescinded the grace marks granted to 1,563 candidates who had appeared for the test for MBBS and related courses.
The candidates were given the choice to either retake the examination or relinquish the compensatory marks provided for the lost time, according to the Centre. The examination, conducted on May 5, spanned 4,750 centers nationwide with around 24 lakh participants. Although the results were anticipated on June 14, they were prematurely released on June 4 due to the expedited completion of answer sheet evaluations.
The allegations have incited protests in multiple cities and prompted legal actions in seven high courts and the Supreme Court. In Delhi, on June 10, scores of students demonstrated, demanding an investigation into the alleged malpractices. Remarkably, 67 students achieved a perfect score of 720, an anomaly in the NTA’s history, with six students from a single center in Haryana’s Faridabad, arousing suspicions of foul play. Allegations suggested that the grace marks significantly influenced the perfect scores attained by these 67 students.
The NEET-UG examination, administered by the NTA, serves as a gateway for admissions to MBBS, BDS, AYUSH, and related courses in both government and private institutions across the nation.