NEET PG 2024: SC postpones hearing challenging exam's transparency

The counsel for the petitioner pointed out that the information memorandum is not published and also there is no SOP as to how the exam is to be conducted.

SC postponed the hearing of the plea challenging the transparency in the conduct of the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test for postgraduate medical admissions (NEET PG 2024).

The plea filed by MBBS doctor Ishika Jain and others sought the disclosure of answer keys and other measures to ensure increased transparency. (PTI File Photo)

The counsel for the petitioner pointed out that the information memorandum is not published and also there is no SOP as to how the exam is to be conducted. The counsel said even the states are confused regarding the counseling procedure, Bar and Bench reported.

“We will list it on a Non-Miscellaneous Day,” responded Justice JB Pardiwala regarding the matter.

The plea filed by MBBS doctor Ishika Jain and others sought the disclosure of answer keys and other measures to ensure increased transparency.

Earlier, advocates Vibha Makhija and Parul Shukla, appearing for the students, told the court that the examination is being conducted under information bulletins, which are being amended at the last minute based on whims and fancies of the examination agencies.

Based on the plea, a bench led by Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud, comprising of justices JB Pardiwala and Manoj Misra, asked the National Board of Examination (NBE) to file a reply to the petition, which alleged that there was a lack of transparency in conducting NEET PG 2024 examinations.

Senior advocate Vibha Makhija, appearing for the petitioners said to PTI that the NBE had not released either the question papers or the answer keys and, without knowing the correct answers, the candidates would not be able to assess their performances transparently.

What the petition says:

• According to the petition, the conduct of the NEET PG 2024 exam lacked transparency since none of the documents that can allow a student to check his/her performance, as neither the question paper, nor the response sheet filled in by candidates nor the answer key is supplied to the students, and merely a score card has been provided along with a list of attempted correctly/attempted wrongly sections.
• "The students on perusal of the score cards have found discrepancy in the total number of questions that they attempted which are found to be different than what is stated in the score cards issued to them. Thus, there is a basic flaw in the conduct of the examinations which goes to the root of the matter. However, there is no redressal of the above, and an unfettered power has been vested in the Respondents to conduct examinations, without the necessary checks and balances," the petition said.
• The petitioner submitted that the consistent lack of transparency by NBE in the conduct of NEET PG 2024 is unconstitutional and in the teeth of the established law laid down by this Court regarding the Right to Information.
• The method/manner in which examination under the NEET PG 2024 is conducted by the Respondents is manifestly arbitrary and against the principles of transparency and fairness in state action as enshrined under Article 14 of the Constitution of India, 1950," the petition said.
• "Two classes of candidates have been created without any reasonable nexus with object being sought to be achieved. Splitting one common examination into two sessions with different question papers and applying general criteria for normalisation is completely arbitrary and leads to erroneous results, which would not give a correct picture of the best candidate picked for each speciality," the petition added.

(With Agency Inputs)