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Report NEET-UG results city-wise, centre-wise, SC tells NTA

The Supreme Court asked the National Testing Agency to publish the centre-wise results of the NEET-UG exam after masking the identity of the candidates.

NEET UG 2024: Counselling in third week of JulyThe Centre said counselling will be conducted in four rounds starting from the third week of July. (PTI photo)

THE SUPREME Court Thursday asked the National Testing Agency (NTA) to publish city-wise and centre-wise NEET-UG 2024 examination results of all 23 lakh candidates, masking their identities, on its website by 12 pm Saturday.

“We direct the NTA to publish the marks obtained by students at the UG-2024 NEET examination, while, at the same time, without disclosing the identity of the students. The result should be declared city and centre-wise by 12 noon on 20 July 2024 and shall be uploaded on the website of the NTA,” a three-judge bench presided by Chief Justice of India D Y Chandrachud ordered.

The bench comprising Justices J B Pardiwala and Manoj Misra also questioned the Centre’s stand that the alleged leak of question papers in Hazaribagh had occurred just one hour before the start of the exam, and termed it far-fetched.

“The whole hypothesis that within 45 minutes to an hour, not only was there a breach, but the entire question paper was solved…it is very far fetched…,” said CJI Chandrachud.

Appearing for the Centre, Solicitor General Tushar Mehta said while the results can be published, doing so centre-wise is riddled with problems. “There are coaching centres, there are several problems,” he told the bench, urging it to defer centre-wise publication.

Explained
Rising Numbers

THE NEET-UG was conducted at 4,750 exam centres in 571 cities, including 14 cities abroad. In 2023, 4,097 centres in 499 cities were designated to conduct the test; in 2022, there were 3,547 centres in 497 cities. The rationale for the increase in centres was to ensure more coverage of rural areas.

But the court persisted. “No…let it be done. We have to see the end of the matter by Monday,” said CJI Chandrachud, fixing it for hearing next on July 22.

He said, “In fact the reason why we were engaging in a detailed line of enquiry is the fact that there was a leak at least in Patna and Hazaribagh… the question papers had been disseminated before the exam, that’s undoubted.”

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The question before the bench was whether the leak was confined to only two centres in which case there is no question of a retest, or whether this was more widespread. “The students have a certain degree of handicap because they would never have the kind of data which is necessary to prove,” the CJI said.

On the Solicitor General’s submission about coaching centres, he said, “We are saying we want the identity of students to be masked. We don’t want students to be approached… But let’s see centre-wise what was the mark pattern… if the data does reveal something which has not appeared to us as laypersons, judges, they will assist us at least.”

Citing the investigation conducted by CBI, Mehta said there was “no leak” as was being portrayed. He said a breach took place — and described the CCTV footage as showing someone entering the particular centre between 8.02 am and 9.23 am, and taking photographs.

Drawing on the Centre’s argument that there was very little time after the alleged breach and the students were asked to memorise the answers, the CJI said, “That means prior to May 5 morning, somebody had solved the question paper.. If somebody had solved the question paper, certainly it doesn’t go to 5th morning. It has to go at least to the night between May 4 and 5 in which case the leak has occurred sometime prior to the night intervening May 4 and 5.”

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“There are two distinct possibilities. Either it gets leaked before the question papers are lodged in the custody of the Canara Bank and SBI which means the leak has taken place before May 3. The alternate hypothesis is that the leak takes place after the question papers are distributed from the banks and are bound for the centres,” Chandrachud said.

The CJI said there were 180 questions and wondered how they were solved in the short time. If the students got the question papers at about 10.15 am, is it possible for someone to prepare answers and put it together for students in just 45 minutes, he asked.

Mehta said they had an hour and the 180 questions were divided among seven problem solvers, each getting 25. Since the question paper for each candidate would be shuffled, the candidates were asked to memorise it, he said. So far, the investigation has been able to identify 18 students who were allegedly involved in the “breach”, he said.

The Solicitor General said the person who went inside and took photographs has been arrested. “One gang member who was also at Hazaribagh sent it by WhatsApp (to Patna). Their model is not to allow students to take photographs…,” he said. The parents of the students allegedly involved gave post dated cheques which were recovered from the accused, he said.

Ananthakrishnan G. is a Senior Assistant Editor with The Indian Express. He has been in the field for over 23 years, kicking off his journalism career as a freelancer in the late nineties with bylines in The Hindu. A graduate in law, he practised in the District judiciary in Kerala for about two years before switching to journalism. His first permanent assignment was with The Press Trust of India in Delhi where he was assigned to cover the lower courts and various commissions of inquiry. He reported from the Delhi High Court and the Supreme Court of India during his first stint with The Indian Express in 2005-2006. Currently, in his second stint with The Indian Express, he reports from the Supreme Court and writes on topics related to law and the administration of justice. Legal reporting is his forte though he has extensive experience in political and community reporting too, having spent a decade as Kerala state correspondent, The Times of India and The Telegraph. He is a stickler for facts and has several impactful stories to his credit. ... Read More

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  • CBI IIT Madras NEET NEET UG NEET UG 2024 NTA supreme court
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