E-Paper
SC refuses to call for report on NEET paper leak
The Supreme Court on Wednesday refused to call for a report from the Central Bureau of investigation (CBI) on the alleged leak of NEET-MBBS examination papers as it felt that any intervention in its part will cause confusion in the minds of students and prove to be detrimental to the interests of lakhs of students who appeared for the test conducted on September 12.
The Supreme Court on Wednesday refused to call for a report from the Central Bureau of investigation (CBI) on the alleged leak of NEET-MBBS examination papers as it felt that any intervention in its part will cause confusion in the minds of students and prove to be detrimental to the interests of lakhs of students who appeared for the test conducted on September 12.
The Court was dealing with a petition filed by over 13 MBBS aspirants who took the National Eligibility Entrance Test (NEET) for admission into the medical undergraduate examination and were concerned over reports of alleged leak of the question paper which is a matter of probe by CBI.
The petition was allowed to be withdrawn as the bench refused to pass any order with regard to the ongoing investigation.
“Any intervention at our end will be detrimental to the interests of lakhs of students,” said a bench of Justices L Nageswara Rao and BR Gavai.
Senior advocate Salman Khurshid appearing for the petitioners argued that though they have sought cancellation of the examination, a report could be called for from the CBI as the multiple FIRs registered in Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan and Maharashtra clearly state that the process of examination was manipulated by using proxy candidates and an exorbitant amount up to ₹50 lakhs per candidate was charged by coaching centers and solver gangs.
The bench said, “This is going to create a lot of confusion. We have dismissed a similar petition recently seeking cancellation of the examination.” The petition filed through advocate Ravi Prakash demanded comprehensive guidelines to ensure that such competitive examinations are free from all malpractices and adequate safety measures and precautionary steps to have “transparent, fair and efficient” examination system.
Khurshid told the Court that he wished to withdraw the petition and urged the Court to grant him liberty to pursue his remedies to challenge the NEET 2021 in future. The bench declined to state so, adding, “Whatever we say will be taken out of context. We will permit you to simply withdraw.”
