The Supreme Court of India, led by Chief Justice D.Y. Chandrachud, has dismissed petitions calling for the cancellation of the NEET-UG 2024 medical entrance examination. The decision came after careful consideration of claims concerning potential leaks and errors associated with the examination process.
During Tuesday’s hearing, the apex court concluded that there was insufficient evidence to suggest a systemic leak that could compromise the integrity of the exam. Chief Justice Chandrachud noted that forcing a re-examination could negatively affect nearly 23 million students and impact the future availability of qualified medical professionals.
The court proceedings included insights from an expert panel from the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Delhi, which confirmed the accuracy of a contentious physics question, affecting the scores of approximately 400,000 candidates, including 44 who achieved perfect scores.
The National Testing Agency (NTA), which administers the exam, faced scrutiny from the Supreme Court regarding the distribution of incorrect question papers at eight examination centers, including Jhajjar. The NTA’s decision to award grace marks to affected students was also discussed.
Petitioners questioned the NTA’s handling of the situation, urging the court to recognize the leaks as widespread rather than localized incidents. However, the court observed that, while leaks occurred in Patna and Hazaribagh, these incidents were under investigation by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and did not constitute a nationwide problem.
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The court affirmed that cancelling the exam would be “counterproductive” and could “seriously jeopardize” the futures of millions of honest candidates. This stance aligns with the government and the NTA’s perspective that, in the absence of conclusive evidence of a widespread breach, maintaining the validity of the 2024 exam is in the best interest of all parties involved.
