Supreme Court Raps NTA Over NEET Paper Leak Case, Asks Exam Body To 'Fix Loopholes', 'Avoid Flip Flops'

Supreme Court has directed the NTA to rectify deficiencies in its exam system and prevent paper leaks by using technology.

The Supreme Court on Friday directed the National Testing Agency to "rectify deficiencies in the exam system", including using technology to identify faults in its cybersecurity profile to prevent any further paper leaks. The apex court said it did not cancel the controversy-ridden NEET-UG 2024 examination amid concerns about the paper leak because there was no systematic breach of its sanctity.

In its detailed reasons for the order which was pronounced on July 23, a bench of Chief Justice DY Chandrachud and Justices JB Pardiwala and Manoj Misra told the NTA to avoid "flip-flops" in the context of the NEET exam, which was held on May 5 but ran into trouble a month later.

"NTA must stop its flip-flop which was noticed this year as it does not serve the interest of students...These flip-flops in the NTA do not serve the interest of the students," the CJI said.

The bench also 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. It said that since the remit of the panel has been expanded, the committee would submit its report by September 30 on various measures to rectify deficiencies in the examination system. The committee was constituted by the government on June 22 to examine measures to make the exam process more robust.

It also said the Radhakrishnan panel should consider framing standard operating procedures for the adoption of technological advancements to strengthen the examination system. The court also asked the union government to rectify the issues which have arisen during the NEET-UG examination.

On July 23, the top court dismissed the pleas seeking cancellation and re-test of the controversy-ridden exam, holding that there was no evidence on record to conclude that it was vitiated on account of a systemic breach of its sanctity. While pronouncing the order, the court said 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 the streets and in Parliament, over alleged large-scale malpractices like question paper leak, fraud and impersonation in the prestigious test held on May 5. Over 23 lakh students gave the National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test-Undergraduate (NEET-UG) in 2024 for admissions to MBBS, BDS, AYUSH and other related courses.

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