NEW DELHI, 2 Aug: The Supreme Court on Friday said that it did not cancel the controversy-ridden NEET-UG 2024 amid concerns of paper leak because there was no systemic breach of its sanctity.
In its detailed reasons for the order which was pronounced on 23 July, a bench of Chief Justice DY Chandrachud and justices JB Pardiwala and Manoj Misra said the National Testing Agency (NTA) must stop its flip-flop which was noticed this year, as it does not serve the interest of students.
“We did not cancel the NEET-UG because there was no systemic breach of sanctity of the exam beyond Hazaribagh and Patna,” the bench said.
It issued a slew of directions and expanded the remit of the Centre-appointed panel headed by former ISRO chief K Radhakrishnan to review the NTA’s functioning and recommend exam reforms.
The top court said that, since the remit of the panel has been expanded, the committee would submit its report by 30 September on various measures to rectify deficiencies in the examination system.
The bench said that the Radhakrishnan panel should consider framing standard operating procedure for adoption of technological advancements to strengthen the examination system.
It said that the issues which arose during the NEET-UG examination should be rectified by the Centre.
On 23 July, the top court dismissed the pleas seeking cancellation and retest of the exam, holding that there was no evidence on record to conclude that it was “vitiated” on account of “systemic breach” of its sanctity.
The top court, while pronouncing the order, had said that its detailed reasons would follow.
The interim verdict came as a shot in the arm for the embattled NDA government and the NTA, which were facing strong criticism and protests, on streets and in Parliament, over alleged large-scale malpractices like question paper leak, fraud and impersonation in the prestigious test held on 5 May.
Over 23 lakh students took the National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test-Undergraduate (NEET-UG) in 2024 for admissions to MBBS, BDS, Ayush, and other related courses. (PTI)