NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Monday sought a report from the CBI on its investigation into the NEET-UG question paper leak on Wednesday and assured the more than 23 lakh students who took the exam on May 5 that it could order test again only if the beneficiary of the leak cannot be identified and the integrity of the entrance examination for the MBBS course is found to have been completely vitiated.
A bench of Chief Justice DY Chandrachud and Justices JB Pardiwala and Manoj Misra heard a collection of more than 50 petitions from the candidates, who through the leader’s counsel Narender Hooda sought the cancellation of NEET-UG citing the paper leak, which was first detected in Patna, and others. irregularities reported from various countries, arguing that the entire examination was disrupted because the questions and answers were available on social media.
The bench said a retest can be ordered only if three conditions are met – one, the alleged paper leak was systemic; two, if the leak compromises the sanctity and integrity of the entire test; and, three, if it is not possible to identify and separate the beneficiaries of fraud from untainted candidates.
However, the bench insisted that it would not grant a retest “if the offense is confined to a particular center and is capable of identifying and separating the beneficiaries”.
67 candidates who got full marks surprised SC
It should not lead to the cancellation of NEET-UG because of the large scale it is conducted in 4,750 centers in 571 cities in India and 14 cities abroad involving more than 23 lakh students who have studied hard and put in the cost and effort and have to go through the new test, the bench said.
Every year, around 23-24 lakh students compete for 1.08 lakh MBBS seats in various medical colleges, including 56,000 government-run ones.
Posting the matter for further hearing on Thursday, the CJI-led bench said it can grant a fresh test if the CBI’s status report fulfills the three parameters and after getting feedback from the National and Central Testing Board on the entire gamut. Questions related to the method and mechanism of conducting the exam – from the creation of question papers by a group of experts selected by the NTA to their safe custody to distribution at test centers. The NTA and the Center have to submit their response by 5 pm on Wednesday.
The SC noted with surprise that compared to only seven candidates who secured 720 full marks in the previous four NEET-UG exams, the number has increased to 67 this year, and asked advocate general Tushar Mehta whether it is possible for an in-house cyber forensics unit. the ministry uses data analytics to examine the answer sheets of candidates with high suspicious scores to ensure the spread of irregularities.
Mehta said the government was ready to disclose all the material, but stressed that the irregularities and paper leaks were local incidents that did not harm the sanctity or integrity of the exams across the country.
The bench said, “We must be ruthless with those who indulge in paper leaks and those who benefit from them.” He asked NTA counsel Naresh Kaushik to inform the court about the action taken against those identified as beneficiaries of the irregularities.
The NTA has sought information also about the nature of the paper leak, the location of the leak, the time gap between the leak and the conduct of the actual exam on May 5, the method and distribution of the leak and the distribution of question papers through social media. The CBI should put its investigation findings on all these aspects, the SC said while asking the NTA to explain the steps it took to identify the beneficiaries of the scam and the way it went about ordering retests for 1,563 candidates.
Insisting on glitch-free conduct of NEET-UG and similar competitive exams in future, the bench said to prevent this from happening, it is necessary to set up a multi-disciplinary committee whose members command public confidence to adopt modalities and processes for doing so. the future exam of lakhs of hinge students.
“If the committee has been created by the government, the full details of the credentials will be available so that the court can change its composition to bring together talents in the field of administration, experts in the domain and data analytics to ensure the integrity of the examination,” the bench said.
A bench of Chief Justice DY Chandrachud and Justices JB Pardiwala and Manoj Misra heard a collection of more than 50 petitions from the candidates, who through the leader’s counsel Narender Hooda sought the cancellation of NEET-UG citing the paper leak, which was first detected in Patna, and others. irregularities reported from various countries, arguing that the entire examination was disrupted because the questions and answers were available on social media.
The bench said a retest can be ordered only if three conditions are met – one, the alleged paper leak was systemic; two, if the leak compromises the sanctity and integrity of the entire test; and, three, if it is not possible to identify and separate the beneficiaries of fraud from untainted candidates.
However, the bench insisted that it would not grant a retest “if the offense is confined to a particular center and is capable of identifying and separating the beneficiaries”.
67 candidates who got full marks surprised SC
It should not lead to the cancellation of NEET-UG because of the large scale it is conducted in 4,750 centers in 571 cities in India and 14 cities abroad involving more than 23 lakh students who have studied hard and put in the cost and effort and have to go through the new test, the bench said.
Every year, around 23-24 lakh students compete for 1.08 lakh MBBS seats in various medical colleges, including 56,000 government-run ones.
Posting the matter for further hearing on Thursday, the CJI-led bench said it can grant a fresh test if the CBI’s status report fulfills the three parameters and after getting feedback from the National and Central Testing Board on the entire gamut. Questions related to the method and mechanism of conducting the exam – from the creation of question papers by a group of experts selected by the NTA to their safe custody to distribution at test centers. The NTA and the Center have to submit their response by 5 pm on Wednesday.
The SC noted with surprise that compared to only seven candidates who secured 720 full marks in the previous four NEET-UG exams, the number has increased to 67 this year, and asked advocate general Tushar Mehta whether it is possible for an in-house cyber forensics unit. the ministry uses data analytics to examine the answer sheets of candidates with high suspicious scores to ensure the spread of irregularities.
Mehta said the government was ready to disclose all the material, but stressed that the irregularities and paper leaks were local incidents that did not harm the sanctity or integrity of the exams across the country.
The bench said, “We must be ruthless with those who indulge in paper leaks and those who benefit from them.” He asked NTA counsel Naresh Kaushik to inform the court about the action taken against those identified as beneficiaries of the irregularities.
The NTA has sought information also about the nature of the paper leak, the location of the leak, the time gap between the leak and the conduct of the actual exam on May 5, the method and distribution of the leak and the distribution of question papers through social media. The CBI should put its investigation findings on all these aspects, the SC said while asking the NTA to explain the steps it took to identify the beneficiaries of the scam and the way it went about ordering retests for 1,563 candidates.
Insisting on glitch-free conduct of NEET-UG and similar competitive exams in future, the bench said to prevent this from happening, it is necessary to set up a multi-disciplinary committee whose members command public confidence to adopt modalities and processes for doing so. the future exam of lakhs of hinge students.
“If the committee has been created by the government, the full details of the credentials will be available so that the court can change its composition to bring together talents in the field of administration, experts in the domain and data analytics to ensure the integrity of the examination,” the bench said.
