NEET UG's integrity has been compromised, says CJI

New Delhi: Chief Justice of India (CJI) DY Chandrachud acknowledged that the NEET UG 2024 exam paper leak is a fact, affirming that the exam's integrity has been compromised. This was discussed during a Supreme Court hearing regarding pleas against the exam's irregularities, with the next hearing scheduled for Thursday. The bench, which includes Justices J B Pardiwala and Manoj Misra, listened to petitioners requesting a re-test and the cancellation of the previous results due to the alleged paper leak.

The integrity of several national-level entrance exams conducted by the National Testing Agency (NTA), including NEET UG, has come under scrutiny amid accusations of paper leaks and other malpractices. In separate affidavits, the central government and the NTA expressed reluctance to annul the exam and conduct a re-examination. They stated that the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has taken over the cases filed in different states.

Unreasonable to scrap the entire exam: Centre

The Centre argued that without evidence of a widespread breach of confidentiality in the pan-India examination, it would be unreasonable to scrap the entire exam and its declared results. The Education Ministry emphasized that cancelling the exam would severely disadvantage the many honest candidates who participated in 2024.

The NTA, in its affidavit, argued that cancelling the entire exam based on the alleged malpractice would be counterproductive and detrimental to the larger public interest, especially concerning the career prospects of the qualified candidates. They dismissed the claims of mass malpractice as unfounded, misleading, and baseless.

The government also announced the formation of a high-level panel of experts to recommend effective measures for conducting transparent, smooth, and fair examinations by the NTA.