New Delhi: SC Orders IIT Delhi to Resolve NEET-UG 2024 Question Dispute

NEW DELHI: In a significant development regarding the National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test (NEET-UG) 2024, the Supreme Court on Monday directed the Director of IIT Delhi to assemble a panel of three subject-matter experts to determine the correct answer for a disputed question by Tuesday at 12 noon. This order follows student challenges against the National Testing Agency (NTA) for awarding marks to two possible answers for the contentious question.

The court's intervention comes amid ongoing hearings into allegations of paper leaks and malpractices related to the NEET-UG examination. The matter will continue to be addressed in court on July 23.

Simultaneously, the Supreme Court has commenced hearings on various petitions concerning the NEET-UG 2024 exam. A representative for the NEET-UG candidates informed the bench that the NTA had acknowledged a paper leak and the subsequent distribution of the leaked exam paper via WhatsApp.

During the proceedings, Chief Justice D.Y. Chandrachud, along with Justices J.B. Pardiwala and Manoj Misra, inquired about the implications of the centre-wise and city-wise results released by the NTA. An analysis of the results, published on July 20, revealed that candidates from centers implicated in the alleged leak performed poorly compared to others. The NTA's results were made available through a detailed drop-down menu format, providing center-specific data rather than cumulative results.

Data from over 32 lakh candidates across 4,750 centers was released under the Supreme Court's directive, as part of the ongoing scrutiny into potential irregularities. Results from centers like Oasis School in Hazaribagh, Hardayal Public School in Jhajjar, and Jay Jalaram International School in Godhra showed notably lower performance levels.

On July 18, the Supreme Court had mandated that the NTA disclose the center and city-wise results by July 20, ensuring the anonymity of the candidates. This was intended to determine if candidates from allegedly compromised centers scored disproportionately higher than those from other locations.

The NEET-UG, conducted by the NTA, is a crucial entrance exam for admissions to MBBS, BDS, AYUSH, and other courses in both government and private institutions nationwide. The Centre and the NTA have previously argued that scrapping the exam could unfairly disadvantage many honest candidates, given the absence of widespread evidence of breaches.

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