Summary
The Supreme Court on Friday, August 2, stated that it cannot order the re-conduct of NEET-UG 2024 as there is insufficient material on record to indicate a systemic leak or malpractice that would compromise the integrity of the examination, as reported by the PTI.
Additionally, the court expanded the remit of the Centre-appointed panel, led by former ISRO chief K Radhakrishnan, to review the functioning of the National Testing Agency (NTA), which conducts the NEET-UG, and recommend examination reforms.
The Supreme Court on Friday, August 2, stated that it cannot order the re-conduct of NEET-UG 2024 as there is insufficient material on record to indicate a systemic leak or malpractice that would compromise the integrity of the examination, as reported by the PTI.
Additionally, the court expanded the remit of the Centre-appointed panel, led by former ISRO chief K Radhakrishnan, to review the functioning of the National Testing Agency (NTA), which conducts the National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test (Undergraduate) (NEET-UG), and recommend examination reforms.
The top court set a deadline of September 30 for the committee to submit its report on various measures to rectify deficiencies in the examination system.
A bench of Chief Justice DY Chandrachud and Justices JB Pardiwala and Manoj Misra provided detailed reasons for its July 23 order refusing to cancel the controversy-ridden NEET-UG 2024 examination. "....sufficient material is not on record at present which indicates a systemic leak or systemic malpractice of other forms. The material on record does not, at present, substantiate the allegation that there has been a widespread malpractice which compromised the integrity of the exam. To the contrary, an assessment of the data indicates that there are no deviations which indicate that systemic cheating has taken place," the court stated in a detailed order.
CJI Chandrachud, writing on behalf of the bench, noted that the information before the court at this stage does not show that the question paper was widely disseminated using social media or the internet, or that answers were communicated to students using sophisticated electronic means that may prove difficult to track, as per a PTI report.
"The students who were beneficiaries of the leak at Hazaribagh and Patna are capable of being identified. The CBI investigation reveals the number of students who are the beneficiaries of the malpractice at Hazaribagh and Patna at this stage. This leads us to conclude that it is possible to separate the beneficiaries of malpractice or fraud from the honest students. This being the case, the court cannot direct a re-exam," the bench noted.
The bench emphasised that the purpose of assessing whether the sanctity of the exam had been vitiated at a systemic level was to facilitate and encourage a proportional response.
"If it is possible to separate the tainted candidates from the untainted ones, there would be no justification to cancel the exam. This is because honest candidates would be made to suffer without reason due to the actions of some unscrupulous candidates. It is also important for the response to malpractice to be proportionate. Ordering a re-test would disrupt the academic schedule for the year," it stated.
The CJI, in the 63-page detailed order, also criticised the conduct of the NTA.
The order pointed out that while the various issues the court dealt with do not lead to the conclusion that the integrity of NEET was vitiated at a systemic level, "the manner in which NTA has organised the exam this year gives rise to serious concerns”. It emphasised that a body like the NTA, which is entrusted with the immense responsibility of conducting highly important competitive exams, cannot afford to make missteps, take incorrect decisions, and amend them at a later stage.
"All decisions must be well-considered, with due regard to the importance of the decision. Flipflops are an anathema to fairness," the bench said. It recognised the challenges of conducting national level exams with participation of tens of lakhs of students but stressed that these challenges underscore the necessity for an organisation like the NTA. "But that is precisely the reason for the existence of a body such as NTA. It is no excuse to say that the exam is conducted in myriad centres or that a large number of aspirants appear for the exam. NTA has sufficient resources at its disposal. It has adequate funding, time, and opportunities to organise exams such as the NEET without lapses of the kind that occurred this year," it stated.
The bench highlighted multiple lapses on the part of the NTA, including a security breach at an examination center in Hazaribagh, Jharkhand, where the rear door of the strongroom was opened, allowing unauthorised access to the question papers, transport of question papers by e-rickshaws, and wrong distribution of question papers among candidates.
It noted that when the results were declared, 67 aspirants had clinched a perfect score of 720/720. After the removal of compensatory marks awarded to them and the conduct of a re-test for 1563 candidates, the number of aspirants who had obtained full marks dropped to 61, and later to 17 following the recomputation of marks due to the revision of the answer key.
"The intervention of the Court, reports by the media, and representations by candidates ensured that these changes were made in the interests of fairness and justice. However, the system adopted by NTA should be such that just outcomes are reached even when these external catalysts are not present. The system must be such as to inspire public confidence," the order stated.
The top court directed the NTA to address all concerns highlighted by the court in its judgment and requested the seven member committee headed by former ISRO chairman K Radhakrishnan to consider these issues while making its recommendations.
Over 23 lakh students took the NEET-UG 2024 held on May 5 for admissions to MBBS, BDS, AYUSH, and other related courses.
Last updated on 03 Aug 2024
