NEET-UG Results 2024: Supreme Court States Even 0.001% Negligence Must Be Addressed Thoroughly

The Supreme Court on Tuesday underscored that even minimal negligence in the NEET-UG exam process must be rectified, emphasising the importance of respecting the hard work of aspirants. During a hearing on a petition challenging the NEET-UG results, the court criticised the National Testing Agency (NTA) for its handling of the examination. Notices were issued, and the case was scheduled for further hearing on July 8.

The controversy involves 20,000 students opposing a retest for 1,563 candidates, following a previous Supreme Court order allowing the Centre's proposal to cancel grace marks and conduct a retest. The court indicated that it might mandate another retest if necessary for these students.

In a related case, a bench comprising Justice Vikram Nath and Justice S.N.V. Bhatti reviewed petitions alleging unfair practices and paper leaks in the NEET-UG exams conducted by the NTA. The petitioners' counsel highlighted the need to consider the efforts of numerous aspirants and to investigate allegations of mobile phone use and paper leaks.

Last Thursday, the Centre informed the Supreme Court of its decision to cancel the grace marks awarded to 1,563 NEET-UG 2024 candidates. These candidates can choose between a retest or having their results recalculated without grace marks. The Supreme Court accepted this proposal after confirming the petitioners' approval.

The Supreme Court has ordered all petitions alleging paper leaks and unfair means to be heard together on July 8, seeking responses from the NTA on these issues. The court upheld the NTA committee's decision to cancel the scorecards of the 1,563 students, offering them a retest or recalculation of their results without grace marks.

In another case, the High Court granted the NTA three days to clarify the NEET-UG result row involving Ayushi Patel, requesting original documents from both parties. This follows the constitution of an NTA committee to reconsider the issue after multiple petitions challenged the award of grace marks.

Advocate Balaji, representing one petitioner, accepted the cancellation and retest proposal. However, counsel Sai Deepak raised concerns about students who did not approach the court but faced delays at exam centres. Advocate Sai Deepak, appearing for Alakh Pandey, the Physics Wallah founder, informed the court about delays at six examination centres and requested a retest window for these students.

Pandey's petition described the NTA's decision to award grace marks as "arbitrary," collecting representations from around 20,000 students. He claimed that 70-80 grace marks were randomly awarded to at least 1,500 students. The NTA had conducted the NEET exam on May 5 across 4,750 centres, with around 24 lakh candidates. Results were announced on June 4, earlier than the expected June 14 date, sparking protests and legal cases.

On May 17, the Supreme Court bench led by CJI D.Y. Chandrachud refused to stay the results but issued a notice to the NTA regarding the paper leak allegations. The top court has advised the counsel to prepare their arguments for the July 8 hearing and asked the NTA to be ready on that day.