The Supreme Court on Tuesday in its order refused to conduct a retest for the NEET-UG examination noting that there is no material evidence to suggest that there was a systemic breach of the sanctity of the examination. “Data on record is not indicative of a systemic leak of the question paper which would indicate a disruption of the sanctity of the exam,” the court noted. A three-judge bench of the top court, led by Chief Justice D Y Chandrachud and comprising Justices J B Pardiwala and Manoj Misra delivered the verdict after hearing a batch of petitions filed by students, who alleged malpractices and other irregularities in the exam. “At the present stage there is absence of material on the record sufficient to lead to the conclusion that the result of the examination stands vitiated or that there is a systemic breach to the sanctity of the examination…,” the court said in its order.”For the above reasons, we are of the considered view that ordering the cancellation of the entire NEET UG 2024 exam is neither justified on application of settled principles propounded by the decisions of this court (nor) on the basis of material on record,” the court said. The CJI, while reading out the order, also noted that directing a fresh NEET UG for the present year would be replete with serious consequences for over 24 lakh students who appeared in this exam.”The disruption of admission scheduled, cascading effects on the course of medical education, impact on the availability of qualified medical professionals in the future and seriously disadvantageous for the marginalised group for whom the reservation was made in the allocation of seats,” the court said. The court however noted that the leak of NEET UG 2024 question paper which took place at Hazaribagh and Patna is a fact and is “not in dispute.”The NTA and the Union education ministry have been at the centre of a massive political row and protests by students over alleged large-scale malpractices ranging from question paper leaks to impersonation in the test held on May 5.The National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test-Undergraduate (NEET-UG) is conducted by the NTA for admissions to MBBS, BDS, AYUSH and other related courses in government and private institutions across the country.
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