New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Monday sought status reports from the Centre, CBI, and the National Testing Agency regarding alleged paper leaks and other malpractices associated with the NEET undergraduate examination. The court hinted at the possibility of ordering a retest only if these irregularities were widespread and affected a significant number of students. Chief Justice of India D.Y. Chandrachud, leading the bench, expressed initial concerns about the compromised integrity of the examination process.
“The fact that the sanctity of exam has been compromised is beyond doubt. It is an admitted fact that there is a leak and the nature of the leak is something that we are determining. If it is not extensive then there is no cancellation. But before we order a retest, we must be conscious of the extent of the leak as we are dealing with 23 lakh students,” said the bench.
The court urged authorities to address the issue rigorously and scheduled the next hearing for Thursday.
A Complete Timeline Of NEET Row
Here is a detailed timeline of the unfolding events related to the NEET UG 2024 examination:
- May 5: The NEET-UG 2024 exam was conducted at 4,750 centers across 571 cities, including 14 international locations.
- May 17: The Supreme Court seeks responses from the Centre and the NTA regarding a plea alleging irregularities in the NEET-UG 2024 exam held on May 5.
- June 4: NEET-UG 2024 results announced, with 67 candidates achieving the top rank.
- June 11: Observing that the integrity of NEET-UG 2024 had been compromised, the Supreme Court requests responses from the Centre and the NTA on a plea for a fresh examination due to alleged question paper leaks and other malpractices.
- June 13: The Centre informs the Supreme Court that it has cancelled the grace marks given to 1,563 candidates who took the NEET-UG exam. These candidates can either retake the test or forgo the compensatory marks awarded to them for loss of time.
- June 14: The Supreme Court seeks responses from the Centre and the NTA on a plea calling for a CBI investigation into allegations of a question paper leak and other irregularities in NEET-UG 2024.
- June 18: The Supreme Court states that even minimal negligence in the conduct of the NEET-UG 2024 examination should be thoroughly addressed.
- June 23: Officials report that 813 of the 1,563 candidates initially awarded grace marks in NEET-UG appeared for a retest.
- July 1: The number of candidates sharing the top rank in NEET-UG is reduced from 67 to 61 as the NTA announces revised results.
- July 5: The Centre argues that canceling the NEET-UG 2024 exam entirely would "seriously jeopardize" the prospects of many honest candidates and would be irrational without proof of a large-scale breach of confidentiality.
- July 5: The NTA tells the Supreme Court that cancelling NEET-UG 2024 would be highly counterproductive and significantly detrimental to the larger public interest, particularly affecting the career prospects of those who passed the exam.
- July 8: The Supreme Court has directed the NTA to disclose when and how the NEET-UG 2024 exam paper was leaked, as well as the time gap before the exam on May 5. The court reiterated the necessity of using data analytics to identify wrongdoers or potential wrongdoers and suggested considering a retest exclusively for those identified.
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