NEET UG 2024: SC issues notice to Centre, NTA on CBI probe into paper leak allegations

NEET UG 2024: Meanwhile, the Supreme Court has issued notices to private parties on a plea of the NTA seeking transfer of cases pending in various high courts on the NEET UG row to the top court to avoid multiplicity of litigation.

NEET UG: Members of JNUSU protesting outside Education Ministry against alleged corruption in NEET result in New Delhi (Express photo by Praveen Khanna)

The Supreme Court Friday issued notices to private parties on a plea of the National Testing Agency (NTA) seeking transfer of cases pending in various high courts on the NEET UG row to the top court to avoid multiplicity of litigation. Moreover, the top court has also issued notices to the Centre and the NTA on plea requesting for CBI probe into allegations of question paper leak, other irregularities in NEET UG 2024.

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NEET UG 2024 Row: Live Updates

A vacation bench of Justices Vikram Nath and Sandeep Mehta took note of the submission of the NTA’s counsel that several pleas, seeking cancellation of the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test Under Graduate (NEET UG) 2024 on the allegations of question paper leak and other malpractices, are pending in several high courts.

“Issue notice,” the bench said, adding they will be taken up for hearing on July 8.

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The vacation bench also sought responses from the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and the Bihar government within two weeks. It said the PIL will also be taken up with other pending ones on July 8, when the top court will start functioning after the summer vacation.

The NTA, meanwhile, said it wanted to withdraw three other petitions, which were seeking transfer of cases from high courts to the top court, as they pertained to grant of grace marks to 1,563 candidates on account of loss of time during the examination on May 5.

The counsel for the NTA said the issue has been settled and that he will be intimating the high court about the decision to cancel the compensatory marks given to 1,536 candidates and the consequential June 13 order of the top court.

Amid a raging row over the NEET UG examination, the Centre and the NTA on Thursday told the Supreme Court they have cancelled the grace marks given to 1,563 candidates who took the examination for admission to MBBS and other such courses.

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They will have the option to either take a re-test or forgo the compensatory marks awarded to them for loss of time, the centre had said.

The examination was held on May 5 across 4,750 centres and around 24 lakh candidates took it. The results were expected to be declared on June 14 but were announced on June 4, apparently because the evaluation of the answer sheets got completed earlier.

The allegations have led to protests in several cities and filing of cases in seven high courts as also the Supreme Court. Scores of students protested in Delhi on June 10 seeking a probe into alleged irregularities.

As many as 67 students scored a perfect 720, unprecedented in the NTA’s history, with six from a centre in Haryana’s Faridabad figuring in the list, raising suspicions about irregularities. It has been alleged that grace marks contributed to 67 students sharing the top rank.

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The NEET-UG examination is conducted by the NTA for admissions to MBBS, BDS, AYUSH and other related courses in government and private institutions across the country.

(With inputs from PTI)

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