NEET UG 2024 SC Hearing Highlights: Supreme Court refuses to cancel NEET-UG 2024 exam, says demand not justified based on material on record

During the Supreme Court hearing, the Chief Justice of India (CJI) clarified that the committee had determined option 4 as the correct answer, supporting the NTA’s answer key. This followed a discussion where it was noted that statement 2 was incorrect because atoms of radioactive elements are not stable, thereby validating option 4 as the accurate choice. The Solicitor General (SG) indicated he would provide further assistance on this matter.

‘We have received the IIT Delhi Report. The director Prof Banerjee constituted a committee from the dept. of Physics, they say a team of three experts examined the question. They say option 4 is the correct answer,’ says CJI.

In response to questions in the Lok Sabha, Majumdar stated that there is currently no proposal to abolish the NEET (UG) Examination. He emphasised that NEET (UG) was introduced to standardize admissions to undergraduate medical courses in India, aiming to uphold merit and prevent exploitation, profiteering, and commercialization of education. This statement addresses concerns about the potential cancellation of counseling and a return to the pre-NEET system amid widespread student protests.

During yesterday’s hearing, Advocate Tanvi Dubey, representing petitioners from Maharashtra, opposed the proposal for a re-test, emphasizing the significant hardships it would impose on students who have dedicated nearly eight years of effort. Chief Justice DY Chandrachud instructed those requesting a re-test to submit their requests via email to the court master by this evening. Requests should be limited to half a page and should exclude those who have already presented arguments in court.

During the Supreme Court hearing on July 22, the Chief Justice of India (CJI) posed the following questions to the National Testing Agency (NTA):

1. How many centers received the Canara Bank question papers?

2. At how many of these centers were the Canara Bank papers replaced with the correct SBI question booklets?

3. How many centers evaluated the Canara Bank papers?

4. Following the evaluation of the Canara Bank papers, what were the results for the candidates?

An association of central university professors has called for the formation of a Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) to investigate alleged irregularities in the NEET UG 2024 exam. The Federation of Central Universities Teachers’ Association (FEDCUTA) also urged the immediate dissolution of the National Testing Agency (NTA), which has been responsible for conducting the centralized NEET UG exam in recent years.

1. Serious problems in exam system: Gandhi highlighted a very serious problem in the country’s examination system, asserting that the issue extends beyond NEET-UG to all major exams.

2. Lack of ministerial responsibility: He accused Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan of avoiding responsibility and blaming others for the issues in the examination system.

3. Perceived fraud in examination system: Gandhi claimed that students believe the entire Indian examination system is a “fraud,” suggesting that it favors those who can afford to pay.

4. Accusations against rich students: He alleged that wealthy individuals can manipulate and buy their way through the Indian examination system.

5. Criticism of minister’s understanding: Gandhi slammed Pradhan for not understanding the fundamental issues at hand and for not addressing the core problems in the exam system.

In response to questions in the Lok Sabha regarding NEET-UG, the Government stated that there has been a “likely breach of chain of custody” of the question paper in only one instance. They confirmed that there is no material on record indicating a large-scale breach of confidentiality in this pan-India examination.

The Union Education Minister, Dharmendra Pradhan, has addressed the NEET-UG paper leak controversy by affirming the government’s transparency. He stated that the government has shared all relevant information with the Supreme Court and emphasized that there have been no significant instances of paper leaks in the past seven years, aside from a recent case in Patna.

Bishu Kumar, accused of masterminding an NEET UG 2024 impersonation scheme, has been granted interim protection from arrest for 30 days by the court. He is required to cooperate with the CBI investigation. Bishu Kumar, a medical student from Bihar’s Champaran, is implicated along with Keshav, who allegedly sat the exam for another student. The CBI has issued notices for his involvement and flagged suspicious financial transactions.

Kumar’s advocate argued that as an MBBS student, he was not directly involved in the alleged scheme. The CBI has issued notices and an NBW for his arrest.

In a separate development, The Rouse Avenue Court on Monday granted anticipatory bail to Shambhu Sharan Ram, the father of a NEET UG 2024 aspirant implicated in a case where an impersonator allegedly took the exam on behalf of his son. Special judge Ankit Singla approved the bail under the condition that Ram would be released upon posting a bail bond of Rs 50,000 and providing one surety in case of arrest. The CBI is currently investigating the matter concerning the alleged impersonation during the NEET UG 2024 exam in Delhi.

Amid ongoing controversy surrounding NEET, Deputy Chief Minister D.K. Shivakumar recently urged the Centre to abolish the National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test and allow states to conduct their own entrance exams.

The Karnataka Cabinet, led by Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, met on Monday night and approved three resolutions, including one opposing the National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test (NEET), PTI reported.

In compliance with the Supreme Court’s directions, the National Testing Agency (NTA) released individual scores for roughly 23.5 lakh candidates who appeared for the NEET-UG 2024 examination on Saturday. The exams faced controversy following reports of a question paper leak.

Of the total candidates, a little over 81,000 (or 3.49 percent) scored 600 or more out of 720 marks this year. In comparison, there were 29,351 such candidates (1.43 percent of the total) in 2023, and 21,164 candidates (1.19 percent) in 2022.

According to the city-wise and centre-wise results released by NTA, as ordered by the Supreme Court, data shows that over 100 of the 4,750 centres where the entrance test was held this year had more than three times the share of high-scoring candidates (scores exceeding 600 out of 720 marks) compared to the national average.

More than half of these 109 examination centres are located in Sikar (44) and Kota (16), which are prominent coaching hubs in Rajasthan. Of the 44 test centres in Sikar with high-scoring candidates, more than half (24) have at least five times (18 percent and above) the national average of candidates who scored more than 600 marks.

This data aligns with the analysis of the NEET-UG results by IIT-Madras, which the Centre presented before the Supreme Court to assert that there is no abnormality in the results to indicate any large-scale malpractice. A city-wise distribution of the top 60,000 rankers in the examination this year showed 3,405 in Sikar, 2,033 in Kota, and 1,561 in Patna. Last year, Patna had 1,993 candidates in the top 60,000 ranks.

According to data shared by the minister, four exams were postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic:

– JEE-Main (2020)

– NEET-UG (2020)

– JEE-Main (2021)

– NEET-UG (2021)

Additionally, the following exams were postponed due to the pandemic and logistical challenges:

– CSIR UGC-NET (2020)

– UGC-NET (December 2020)

– UGC-NET (May 2021)

– Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) AIEEA (2020)

The Delhi University Entrance Test (DUET) 2020, for admission to UG, PG-MPhil, and PhD courses, was postponed as the registration process was put on hold by DU due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Common Management Admission Test (CMAT) 2021 was postponed due to a revision of the examination pattern by AICTE.

Other exams postponed due to the pandemic include:

– All India Ayush Post Graduate Entrance Test (AIAPGET) 2021

– Joint Integrated Programme in Management Admission Test (JIPMAT) 2021

The IGNOU PhD Entrance was postponed in 2022 due to administrative reasons.

The Graduate Aptitude Test Biotechnology (GAT-B) 2023 was postponed after consultation with regional centres for biotechnology.

In 2024, the National Common Entrance Test (NCET) was postponed due to technical issues, and the CSIR-NET was postponed due to logistical issues.

The court made it clear that the order seeking the opinion of experts on a question does not mean that the pleas for cancellation of the examination have failed. The bench will resume hearing as many as 40 petitions on Tuesday, during which it will hear submissions from Solicitor General Tushar Mehta and others on behalf of the Centre and the National Testing Agency.

The bench reproduced the controversial question in its order, stating, “As indicated…, four options were indicated in the question as framed, of which students had to select one option as their answer.” To resolve the issue regarding the correct answer to the question, the court decided that an expert opinion should be sought from the Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi.

“We request the Director at IIT Delhi to constitute a team of three experts of the subject concerned. The expert team constituted by the Director is requested to formulate its opinion on the correct option for the above question and to remit its opinion to the Secretary General of this Court, preferably by 12 noon on 23 July 2024,” the order stated. The court also asked the SC’s Secretary General to communicate the order to the IIT Director for “expeditious steps.”

During the hearing on Monday, the bench, which included Justices J.B. Pardiwala and Manoj Misra, heard that a Physics question in the NEET-UG 2024 exam had two correct answers. Aspirants who chose one of the correct answers were awarded four marks. Additionally, it was noted that there were three groups of aspirants: one group received minus five for their correct answer, another group received four marks for a different correct answer, and a third group skipped the question due to lack of knowledge or fear of negative marking. The bench was informed that this issue could significantly impact the merit list of successful candidates.

During yesterday’s hearing, the bench, also comprising Justices J.B. Pardiwala and Manoj Misra, took note of the submissions from some aspirants that a Physics question had two correct answers, and a set of examinees who provided one particular correct answer were awarded four marks.

The bench also considered submissions indicating that there were three sets of aspirants: one set received minus five for the correct answer, the second secured four marks for another correct answer, and the third group skipped the question due to either lack of knowledge or fear of negative marks. This discrepancy would significantly impact the merit list of successful candidates, the bench was told.

During Monday’s hearing, the bench asked the petitioners seeking a re-test to use data released by the National Testing Agency (NTA), which conducts the examination, to demonstrate that there was a “systemic failure” in its conduct, and that the paper leak was “widespread” and not restricted to Patna and Hazaribagh only. “How do you establish that the paper leak was all over India?” Chief Justice D.Y. Chandrachud asked.

On Monday, the apex court directed the Director of IIT-Delhi to set up a team of three experts to examine a specific Physics question from the NEET-UG 2024 examination and submit a report on the correct answer by Tuesday noon. The court’s order to IIT Delhi to establish a team of three domain experts to address this issue came at the end of a day-long hearing on a batch of petitions. These petitions include requests for a re-test of the NEET-UG due to allegations of a question paper leak and other malpractices.

The Supreme Court will resume hearing petitions challenging the NEET-UG 2024 exam on Tuesday. The bench, headed by Chief Justice of India D.Y. Chandrachud, will hear the responses from the Union/NTA. The petitioners completed their arguments during yesterday’s hearing. The hearing is set to commence at 10:30 a.m. today.

In its analysis, IIT Madras acknowledged an “overall increase in the marks obtained by students, specifically in the range of 550 to 720.” For instance, this year, 2,321 candidates scored in the 700-720 marks range compared with 350 in 2023 and 99 in 2022. In the 650-699 marks range this year, there were 27,885 candidates, compared to 6,939 last year and 4,583 the year before that. IIT Madras attributed this increase to a reduction in the syllabus.

The National Testing Agency (NTA) has postponed at least 16 exams for various reasons since its inception in 2018, the Ministry of Education informed the Lok Sabha on Monday. The reasons for the postponements included the COVID-19 pandemic, administrative issues, logistical challenges, and technical problems. This information was shared by Minister of State for Education Sukanta Majumdar in response to a written question from DMK MP Kanimozhi Karunanidhi.

“Since its inception in 2018, NTA has successfully conducted over 240 examinations involving over 5.4 crore students. Due to the multi-subject nature of most NTA exams, which are held in multiple shifts over several days, there have been instances where unforeseen circumstances like the COVID-19 pandemic, logistical and technical issues, administrative challenges, and legal orders have necessitated changes to initially notified exam dates for specific subjects or shifts,” the Minister said.

(PTI)

TMC general secretary Abhishek Banerjee escalated pressure on the BJP-led central government over the NEET paper leak scandal, demanding the arrest of Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan on Sunday.

The BJP responded sharply. “Abhishek Banerjee is trying to mix everything. There is no evidence that Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan or his Ministry is involved in the NEET paper leak case. But in the case of the SSC recruitment scam, Mamata Banerjee was involved. There is no point making baseless allegations against the BJP when his own party leaders are in jail on charges of corruption,” stated state BJP chief Sukanta Majumdar.

The Supreme Court directed the Centre and the National Testing Agency (NTA) to provide the correct answer to the Physics question to the top court. A three-member expert committee from IIT-Delhi will be assigned to determine which option of the Physics question is scientifically correct.

The hearing will resume tomorrow when the NTA and the Centre will present their submissions.

As per the Solicitor General, a total of 420,773 students answered as per the old book, while 928,379 students answered as per the new NCERT book.

Chief Justice of India (CJI) inquires of the Solicitor General, “How can both answers be deemed correct?” The SG responds that “both were considered possible answers.”

However, the Counsel argues that both answers cannot be scientifically accurate.