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NEET UG 2024 result: Supreme Court notice to Centre, NTA on plea seeking CBI probe into 'paper leak'
The Supreme Court also issued notice on a petition filed by NTA for transfer of a plea pending before Delhi high court on issue of alleged paper leak.
The Supreme Court on Friday issued notices on seven petitions challenging the conduct of the NEET-UG 2024 examination and posted it for hearing on July 8 along with the pending petitions. One of the petitions sought a probe by the Central Bureau of Investigation into the alleged paper leak. The court issued notices to the Centre and National Testing Agency or NTA on the plea seeking the CBI probe into the irregularities in NEET-UG 2024.
The Supreme Court also issued notices to private parties on a plea of the National Testing Agency seeking the transfer of cases pending in various high courts on the NEET-UG row to the apex court to avoid multiplicity of litigation. The court directed the same to also come up on July 8.
A vacation bench of Justices Vikram Nath and Sandeep Mehta took note of the submission of the NTA counsel that several pleas, seeking cancellation of the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test–Under Graduate, 2024 on the allegations of question paper leak and other malpractices, are pending in several high courts.
Also Read | NEET UG result 2024: 1,563 candidates' grace marks cancelled, can take re-exam, Centre to Supreme Court
“Issue notice,” the bench said, adding they will be taken up for hearing on July 8.
The NTA, meanwhile, said it wanted to withdraw three other petitions, which were seeking the transfer of cases from high courts to the top court, as they pertained to the grant of grace marks to 1,563 candidates on account of loss of time during the examination on May 5.
The counsel for the NTA said the issue has been settled and that he will be intimating the high court about the decision to cancel the compensatory marks given to 1,536 candidates and the consequential June 13 order of the top court.
Amid a raging row over the NEET-UG examination, the Centre and the NTA on Thursday told the Supreme Court they have cancelled the grace marks given to 1,563 candidates who took the examination for admission to MBBS and other such courses.
They will have the option to either take a re-test or forgo the compensatory marks awarded to them for loss of time, the centre had said.
The examination was held on May 5 across 4,750 centres and around 24 lakh candidates took it. The results were expected to be declared on June 14 but were announced on June 4, apparently because the evaluation of the answer sheets got completed earlier.
The allegations have led to protests in several cities and filing of cases in seven high courts as also the Supreme Court. Scores of students protested in Delhi on June 10 seeking a probe into alleged irregularities.
As many as 67 students scored a perfect 720, unprecedented in the NTA's history. Six from a centre in Haryana's Faridabad figured in the list, raising suspicions about irregularities. It has been alleged that grace marks contributed to 67 students sharing the top rank.
The NTA conducts the NEET-UG examination for admissions to MBBS, BDS, AYUSH, and other courses related to government and private institutions nationwide.
