Supreme Court rejects NEET-UG retest, finds no evidence of systemic breach

The Supreme Court stated that after reviewing data from the National Testing Agency and a report by IIT Madras, it found no evidence of a mass-scale paper leak

The Supreme Court has dismissed a plea for a re-test of the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test for Undergraduates (NEET-UG) 2024, stating that the data on record does not support claims of a "systemic leak" of the question paper.

Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud, presiding over the bench alongside justices JB Pardiwala and Manoj Misra, said, "At the present stage, there is an absence of materials on record to show that the results of the exam were vitiated or that there was a systemic breach in the conduct of the exam."

He further emphasised, "Data on record is not indicative of a systemic leak of the question paper which would indicate a disruption of the sanctity of the exam. The cancellation of NEET is neither justified nor required on the basis of the materials available on record."

 

The apex court recognised the significant impact of ordering a fresh NEET-UG for the current year, noting it would affect over 2.4 million students who participated in the exam.

Additionally, the court was informed that the Union government has established a seven-member expert committee. "The committee shall abide by the further directions as may be issued by this court to ensure that the process of conducting NEET-UG exam is duly strengthened so that issues cited now do not arise in future," the bench stated.

The National Testing Agency administers the NEET-UG for admissions to MBBS, BDS, AYUSH, and other related courses in government and private institutions across the country.

This year's NEET-UG was conducted on May 5, with more than 2.33 million students appearing for the test at 4,750 centres in 571 cities, including 14 overseas locations.