NEET Paper Leak Undeniable: Supreme Court
Hearing petitions challenging the NEET-UG 2024 exam, the Supreme Court today asked a number of questions to the Central government and the National Testing Agency (NTA) about the nature of the paper leak and the steps taken to identify the beneficiaries of the fraud.
The court said that the possibility of paper leak in NEET-UG exam cannot be ruled out. The court said that it is yet to be ascertained whether the nature of the leak was wide-spread or isolated, so that decision can be taken on ordering a re-examination.
If we come to the conclusion that the time gap between the leak and the actual exam is limited, that would be a circumstance which would militate against holding the re-examination,” Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud said.
“In what manner did the leak take place? If the mode of leak is through electronic means and social media, it is likely that the leak is wide-spread,” the CJI said.
A bench of Chief Justice DY Chandrachud, Justice JB Pardiwala and Justice Manoj Mishra, while hearing a batch of petitions seeking cancellation of the NEET-UG exam held on May 5 (the results of which were declared on June 4), identified the following “red flags” requiring assessment.
During the hearing, the bench said that ordering re-examination for all the students would be a difficult task and an extreme decision.
“Before ordering re-examination, we have to understand what is the nature of the leak. It is difficult to call 23 lakh students for re-examination. Firstly, we would like to know the entire procedure. Secondly, the nature of the FIR. Thirdly, the time when the leak happened and how the leak spread,” the CJI said.
When the petitions came up for hearing before the vacation bench, the court orally stressed upon the NTA to accept accountability if there was any wrongdoing on its part. The court also said that it is important for the NTA to respond to the court tactfully as it is considering how the ‘sanctity’ of the NEET-UG exams has been affected.
