The Supreme Court on Monday said that the NEET-UG 2024 test was indeed compromised since a paper leak had happened and ordered the National Testing Agency to submit a full disclosure affidavit on the case. The court, while a hearing multiple petitions, also noted that before a retest is ordered, “We must be conscious of extent of leak as we are dealing with 23 lakh students.”
The Supreme Court was hearing 38 petitions related to the NEET UG 2024 exam irregularities and a demand for retest. A three-judge bench, comprising the CJI and Justices JB Pardiwala and Manoj Misra, was hearing the petitions. The court asked the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) to file a status report, it also ordered the NTA to disclose the steps taken to identify the centres where the paper leak had happened.
What Supreme Court Said on Retest
“The fact that the sanctity of the exam has been compromised is beyond doubt, that there has been a leak. We take it that there is a leak, there is no question about it. But the nature of the leak is what we are determining,” said CJI DY Chandrachud said, adding that the extent of the leak will determine the need for a retest.
“Before we order a retest, we must be conscious of the extent of leak as we are dealing with the careers of 23 lakh students. This concerns costs to be incurred, travelling and dislodging of the academic schedule,” the CJI observed.
The CJI said that the court needed to know “what is the nature of leak, how was the leak, how was the leak disseminated, what are the actions taken, which centre did the leak take place at and what has NTA has done to identify the beneficiary students of the wrongdoing.”
SC Seeks Full Disclosure From NTA
The court said that several questions needed to be answered before a retest is ordered to determine if there’s a need for one. The court asked the NTA to submit a full disclosure on the nature of the leak, the places where the paper leak occurred and the between the paper leak and the conduct of the examination.
The court asked whether the whole exam has been affected. The bench also questioned if it was possible to identify wrong doers, in which case a retest can be ordered for those students only.
The court also asked the NTA to submit an affidavit identifying the centres where the leak happened, the modalities followed for this identification and the number of students who benefitted from the leak.
SC Seeks Report From CBI
Apart from the NTA, the court also asked the CBI to file a status report on the investigation into the paper leak case. The court also asked the CBI to mention the material it has in its possession till date.
The court said that the affidavits by the NTA, Ministry of Education and the one by the CBI shall be placed on record at 5 pm on Wednesday and submitted to the counsel of the petitioners as well. The Supreme Court has placed the for hearing on Thursday, July 11.
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