In a significant development amidst the ongoing controversy over NEET-UG, the Supreme Court on Friday requested responses from the Centre and the National Testing Agency (NTA) regarding a plea for a CBI investigation into allegations of question paper leaks and other irregularities in the exam.
Court Directives and Responses
A vacation bench consisting of Justices Vikram Nath and Sandeep Mehta, in response to a PIL filed by Hiten Singh Kashyap, has also called for responses from the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and the Bihar government within two weeks.
The bench indicated that the PIL will be considered alongside other pending cases on July 8, when the Supreme Court resumes after the summer vacation.
On Thursday, the Centre and the National Testing Agency (NTA) informed the Supreme Court that they had revoked the grace marks awarded to 1,563 candidates who had appeared for the MBBS and other related courses admission exams.
The Centre had stated that these candidates would be given the choice to either retake the test or forego the compensatory marks granted to them for the time lost during the examination.
The examination, conducted on May 5 across 4,750 centres, saw approximately 24 lakh candidates participating. Initially slated for June 14, the results were released on June 4, reportedly due to the early completion of answer sheet evaluations.
There have been allegations of question paper leaks in states such as Bihar, alongside other reported irregularities in this prestigious examination.
The NEET-UG examination, administered by the NTA, is conducted for admission to MBBS, BDS, AYUSH, and other allied courses in government and private institutions nationwide.
