The Supreme Court has scheduled a hearing in two weeks to address a plea alleging manipulation of OMR sheets during the 2024 National Eligibility cum Entrance Test-Undergraduate (NEET-UG).
The plea was brought before a vacation bench consisting of Justice CT Ravikumar and Justice Manoj Misra. The petitioner, a candidate in this year’s NEET-UG, has claimed that his OMR answer sheet was swapped during the examination process.
During the session, the petitioner’s counsel highlighted that the retest, which took place on June 23, has already concluded. This retest was part of the efforts to address earlier reported discrepancies. The bench remarked on the completed retest and noted that several other related petitions are also pending, which call for the cancellation of NEET-UG 2024 or demand a thorough investigation into the alleged irregularities.
The bench initially proposed to list the plea for the following week but was persuaded by the counsel representing the National Testing Agency (NTA) to extend the date, thus setting the hearing after two weeks. This decision aligns with the timetable of related cases, with another significant hearing related to the exam scheduled for July 8.
On June 27, in a separate but related matter, the Supreme Court had inquired about the time limits set by the NTA for candidates to raise grievances concerning their OMR sheets. This query reflects the court’s proactive approach to ensuring transparency and fairness in the examination’s conduct.
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Earlier on June 20, the apex court demanded responses from the Central Government and the NTA regarding a batch of petitions that included requests for scrapping the NEET-UG 2024 entirely and conducting a court-monitored investigation. These petitions arose after substantial outcry over the alleged mishandling of the exam process.
In an earlier hearing on June 18, the court emphasized that even minimal negligence in the exam’s administration should be thoroughly investigated. Following the controversies, the NTA revised its ranking list after the results of the June 23 retest were issued.
