NEET-UG 2024 leak case: SC seeks NTA disclosure, says retest has to be ordered if… | 10 things the court said

If the sanctity of the National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test-Undergraduate (NEET-UG) 2024 exam has been “lost” and if the leak of its question paper has taken place, then a re-test has to be ordered, the Supreme Court said on Monday while hearing a case over alleged irregularities in the exam.

A Supreme Court bench headed by Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud was hearing more than 30 petitions related to the NEET-UG 2024, including those alleging irregularities and seeking a direction to conduct a re-exam.

Last week, the National Testing Agency (NTA), which conducts NEET-UG, and the Centre had told the SC that scrapping the exam would be “counterproductive” and “seriously jeopardise” lakhs of honest candidates in the absence of any proof of large-scale breach of confidentiality.

Here are some key points raised by the SC during Monday’s hearing of the NEET-UG 2024 case:

• If the leak was propagated through social media platforms –  Telegram, WhatsApp and other electronic means – then “it spreads like wildfire”.
• “One thing is clear that leak of question paper has taken place.”
• “If the sanctity of the exam is lost, then a re-test has to be ordered. If we are unable to identify those who are guilty, then a re-test has to be ordered…let us not be in self-denial about what happened.”

• “In a situation where breach affects the entirety of process and it is not possible to segregate the beneficiaries from others, it may be necessary to order a re-test.”
• “Assuming that govt does not cancel exam, what will it do to identify beneficiaries of question paper leak.”
• “There is no question that leak of question paper has taken place. We are determining the extent of the leak.”
• The SC asked the government how many people had benefited from the question paper leak and what actions were taken against them by it.
• “Results of how many wrongdoers have been withheld, and we want to know the geographical distribution of such beneficiaries.”

• The SC directed the NTA to inform it when the leak of the NEET-UG 2024 question paper took place for the first time.
• It ordered the CBI to submit a report indicating the status of the investigation into the matter. The matter will be next heard on July 11.