NEET UG: Students file review petition in Supreme Court challenging August 2 verdict

NEET UG 2024 result was in the spotlight this year due to inflated number of toppers, paper leak and other allegations of malpractices.

In this petition, the students have claimed that there have been significant developments since the CJI DY Chandrachud ruled that there will be no retest for NEET UG 2024. (Representative image/ file)

A group of medical students have filed a review petition against the judgement of the Supreme Court wherein this apex court judges dismissed the petitioners’ writ petition, which sought the cancellation of the NEET UG 2024 examination due to alleged systemic malpractices, and had asked for a re-test of the medical entrance exam.

In this petition, the students have claimed that there have been significant developments since the CJI DY Chandrachud ruled that there will be no retest for NEET UG 2024. “The new-found material evidence ostensibly establishes a ‘Systemic breach/malpractice’ prevalent across states, hence challenging the grounds on which the order dated 02.08.2024, was primarily based, such that it is not possible to separate the beneficiaries of leak/malpractice from the honest students. It calls for judicial application of mind on a whole new set of evidence which cannot go unnoticed in this matter of immense public interest,” the review petition stated.

Also read | Supreme Court says no need to cancel NEET UG, points to NTA’s ‘flip-flops’ in exam management

“A ‘City-Centre wise data analysis’ (herein annexed as ANNEXURE P-), which illustrates that out of a total of 4738 examination centres, 60 odd centres are such where the percentage of successful examinees was about 80%, with four of these 60 centres having an improbable success ratio of above 85%. Additionally, out of these 60 centres, 39 are from just one city—Sikar, which should ideally have been spread across the country and, most importantly, should have been from metropolitan cities like Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, etc., as seen in all national level examinations. In stark contrast, the average percentage of successful candidates at 2417 other centres was below 50%,” the review petition adds.

In this, the students have also alleged that ’16 mobile phones, which were reported as lost following the disclosure of the paper leak, have been recovered from a pond in Dhanbad’. The petition has also raised concerns about ‘negligence’ in awarding grace marks, OMR sheet issues, prediction of paper leak, and more.