NEET-UG 2024 Exam Paper Leak, Supreme Court Live Updates: The Supreme Court on Monday, during the hearing on the NEET-UG exam row, acknowledged that the paper was leaked and requested details on the number of beneficiaries and the actions taken against them. The three-judge bench, led by Chief Justice of India (CJI) DY Chandrachud, stated that if the leak took place through electronic means like Telegram and WhatsApp, it would have spread “like wildfire.” The court has ordered the National Testing Agency (NTA) for disclosures. The next hearing is scheduled for July 11.
The bench also included Justices JB Pardiwala and Manoj Misra. Several students and coaching institutes have filed petitions against the NEET UG 2024 results, raising concerns such as paper leaks, OMR sheet manipulation, impersonation, and cheating.Lawyers representing one petitioner are seeking the exam’s cancellation due to these issues. CJI Chandrachud noted that if the leak spread via social media, a re-test would be necessary.
Meanwhile, the Union government has expressed its unwillingness to re-conduct the NEET UG 2024 in its submission before the Supreme Court. They argue that scrapping the exam entirely would “seriously jeopardize the lakhs of honest candidates” who appeared for the exam on May 5 this year.The central government and the National Testing Agency (NTA) have filed affidavits opposing the demand to cancel the exam. They have informed the court that the instances of alleged malpractices are isolated and do not warrant scrapping the entire exam, which would jeopardize the future of many honest students.
NEET UG 2024 Highlights: Supreme Court heared 56 petitions related to controversy-ridden NEET-UG.
Students staged a protest at Jantar Mantar in Delhi on Sunday over alleged irregularities in the NEET and University Grants Commission-National Eligibility Test (UGC-NET), amid controversies surrounding the exam papers. Carrying posters that read “Scrap NTA” and “NTA Must Go,” protesters called for accountability from the National Testing Agency, which administered the NEET. They demanded a Supreme Court-monitored inquiry into the mismanagement of the NEET UG exam and sought the resignation of Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan.
Tamil Nadu Minister and DMK leader Udhayanidhi Stalin voiced support for the cancellation of the NEET UG exam, stating, “You all have already decided to vote for the DMK… It is the DMK which raised its voice against the NEET exam and now the leaders of the northern states have started opposing it. It is the bjp/">BJP which is against it (opposing the NEET exam) and the PMK is in alliance with them and is contesting this bypoll, so I ask you all to defeat them in this bypoll,”as quoted by ANI.
Following the arrest of alleged co-conspirator Aman Singh from Dhanbad, Jharkhand, officials confirmed on Wednesday that this marks the sixth arrest by the central agency in the NEET-UG paper leak case.
Previously, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) had arrested the principal and vice principal of Hazaribagh-based Oasis school, along with two individuals accused of providing safe locations for NEET candidates where burnt question papers were recovered by Bihar Police.
The CBI has filed six FIRs related to the case, with one from Bihar focusing on paper leakage and others from Gujarat and Rajasthan concerning candidate impersonation and cheating.
In an interaction with ANI regarding the NEET UG exam issue on Saturday, NSUI national president Varun Choudhary slammed the government, saying, “The government did things at the last moment; they had also cancelled the NEET PG exam one day before. Questions have been raised against the government’s intention. On the one hand, they submit an affidavit in the court saying that re-NEET should not take place and on the other hand, they cancelled NEET counselling today. These both are contradictory things,” he added.
The National Testing Agency (NTA) has released a statement regarding the CUET-UG exam, stating, “The NTA is also addressing public grievances regarding the exam conducted for CUET-UG that were received up to June 30. If a grievance is found genuine, the NTA is committed to redoing the exam for these candidates at selected centers any day between July 15 and 19.”
In a breakthrough in the NEET-UG paper leaks case, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on Wednesday, July 3, arrested Aman Singh from Hazaribagh, Jharkhand, for his alleged involvement. According to a report by ANI, CBI sources identified Singh as a kingpin of the paper leaks racket.
On Saturday, Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge sought for the NEET-UG medical entrance exam to be conducted again, with thorough investigations into all alleged “paper leak scams” under the supervision of the Supreme Court. Kharge accused the Modi government of deliberately undermining our education system, whether through issues with NCERT books or exam leaks.
The National Testing Agency (NTA) has revised the results of the NEET UG 2024 retest, revealing a decrease in the number of perfect scorers. Out of the 813 candidates who underwent a retest on June 23, originally 1563, the topper count has dropped from 67 to 61. This adjustment follows the disqualification of six candidates whose scores initially reached a flawless 720/720 due to awarded grace marks for lost exam time. Despite not achieving perfect scores in the retest, these candidates maintained impressive scores upwards of 680.
“Please wait until the NEET-UG matters are taken up,” stated the Chief Justice of India as the Supreme Court session began today. A counsel brought up a petition filed by 56 Gujarat students opposing the calls for a re-conducted NEET UG exam. However, the CJI requested the counsel to raise the issue when other NEET-UG matters are considered.
In a poignant appeal to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Congress MP Rahul Gandhi has called for urgent action regarding the alleged paper leak controversy surrounding the NEET-UG 2024 examination. Describing the issue as a “betrayal of a lifetime dream” for countless aspiring medical students, Gandhi highlighted the gravity-(india)-ltd-share-price/">gravity of the situation faced by affected candidates and their families.
The Supreme Court has sought clarification from the National Testing Agency (NTA) regarding the timeline for addressing grievances related to OMR sheets in the NEET UG 2024 examination. A bench comprising Justices Manoj Misra and S V N Bhatti issued a notice in response to a petition filed by coaching institution Xylem Learning Private Limited and several NEET candidates.
Senior advocate R Basant, representing the petitioners, highlighted concerns that many students have not received their OMR sheets and raised issues of discrepancies between the OMR sheet calculations and those indicated by the answer key. “Several students are aggrieved,” Basant stated during the proceedings.
A bench comprising Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud, Justices JB Pardiwala, and Manoj Misra will hear the NEET-UG cases, listed as item 31, at 10:30 AM today.
The Supreme Court, which had closed for summer vacations on May 18, reopens today with key hearings and anticipated verdicts on the agenda.
The National Testing Agency (NTA) announced on Sunday that a retest will be held for CUET-UG candidates from July 15 to 19, provided any grievances raised about the conduct of the exam are found to be valid.
A fresh plea has been filed by 56 students seeking to prevent the Centre and the National Testing Agency (NTA) from canceling the controversial NEET UG exam.
In its affidavit to the Supreme Court, the NTA stated, “The cancellation of the entire examination on the basis of the aforesaid factor, would be hugely counterproductive and significantly harmful to the larger public interest, especially to the career prospects of the qualified candidates.”
Rajasthan Chief Minister Bhajanlal Sharma has claimed that during the Congress government’s tenure, 17 out of 19 recruitment exam question papers were leaked, causing despair among the youth.
After the BJP formed the government, a special investigation team (SIT) was set up, leading to the arrest of 108 individuals involved in the leaks.
He also mentioned ongoing recruitment for 70,000 posts and the establishment of Yuva Saathi centers to aid youth career development. BJP state president C P Joshi criticised the previous Congress government for lack of development work, contrasting it with the BJP’s focus on public welfare and development under Sharma’s leadership.
During the first session of the 18th Lok Sabha, as the opposition raised concerns about NEET paper leaks in Parliament, Prime Minister Modi said that the government is working on a war footing to curb incidents of paper leaks, while asserting that those playing with the future of youngsters will not be spared.
Responding to the NEET controversy in his reply to the Motion of Thanks to the President’s address, the Prime Minister said the government is “very serious” about stopping such incidents. “Those who played with the future of students will not be spared. Arrests have been made from across the country in connection with NEET,” he said.
NEET UG counselling is the process through which candidates who have qualified the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test for Undergraduate (NEET UG) are allotted seats in medical and dental colleges across India. This process is managed by the Medical Counselling Committee (MCC) for seats under the All India Quota (AIQ) and by respective state counselling authorities for state quota seats.
The counselling schedule for NEET UG and PG is announced by MCC on its website based on the completion of the exam process and the finalization of the seat matrix by the National Medical Commission (NMC). In the years 2021, 2022, and 2023, the counselling for UG seats commenced on January 19, 2022, October 11, 2022, and July 20, 2023, respectively.
“For the year 2024 NMC has communicated its schedule for finalisation of the seat matrix for UG and PG seats in the last week of June indicating that it will finalise the UG seat matrix by third week of July and PG seat matrix by mid-August. MCC will accordingly notify the counselling schedule,” an official notice from MCC stated.
In an affidavit submitted to the Supreme Court, the Centre stated, “In the absence of any proof of a large-scale breach of confidentiality in a pan-India examination, it would not be rational to scrap the entire examination and the results already declared.”
A huge political row erupted following the announcement of this year’s National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test (NEET) examination results on June 4. The results drew the immediate attention of several students who raised concerns over irregularities in the awarding of marks. They alleged that the inflation of marks resulted in an unprecedented 67 candidates achieving a perfect score of 720/720 and securing the top rank. Six of these toppers were from the same exam center in Haryana.