NEET Controversy: Supreme Court Tags New Pleas with Pending Petitions, Sets Hearing for July 8.
The Supreme Court has once again refused to stay NEET-UG 2024 counseling amid significant controversy over alleged irregularities in the medical entrance exam. The court issued a notice to the National Testing Agency (NTA).
Fresh pleas have been tagged along with pending petitions, and the hearing is scheduled for July 8. On Thursday, the Supreme Court stayed proceedings in three high courts hearing petitions challenging the NEET-UG 2024 and calling for an independent investigation into alleged malpractices, including a paper leak and the awarding of grace marks.
A vacation bench of Justices Vikram Nath and SVN Bhatti issued a notice on four transfer petitions filed by the NTA and 11 other petitions with similar grievances. These matters will be heard along with a batch of pending cases on July 8.
Last week, the court refused to stay the counseling, emphasizing the importance of addressing even minor negligence thoroughly. “If there is 0.001% negligence on the part of anyone, it should be thoroughly dealt with,” the court remarked.
The NEET-UG exam was conducted on May 5, and results were released earlier this month. After around 60 students scored full marks in the notoriously difficult exam, medical aspirants alleged irregularities in the exam’s conduct. The controversy escalated over grace marks awarded to some students, leading to protests and the NTA asking over 1500 medical aspirants to retake the exam.
In related news, following the UGC-NET paper leak and subsequent cancellation, Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan announced the formation of a high-level committee to recommend reforms in the NTA. “The government is going to form a high-level committee regarding reforms in NTA. The committee will be expected to make recommendations to further improve NTA, its structure, functioning, examination process, transparency, and data security protocols. Zero-error testing is our commitment. The panel will be notified soon and will include global experts,” he stated.
