Even 0.001% Negligence In NEET-UG 2024 Needs Firm Action, Admit If There Is Any Mistake : Supreme Court Tells Centre, NTA

The Supreme Court today (June 18) told the Union Government and the National Testing Agency (NTA) to ensure that even '0.001% negligence' in conducting the NEET-UG 2024 exams be looked into with all seriousness considering the immense labour that the candidates have put in for preparing the nationwide examination. 

The vacation bench of Justices Vikram Nath and SV Bhatti was hearing a writ petition raising similar concerns raised in previous cases such as paper leak, malpractices and controversial grace marks given to some candidates. 

The bench tagged the present petition with the other similar matters which are listed on July 8.

Addressing Advocate Kanu Agarwal and Vardhaman Kaushik, representing the Union Government and the NTA respectively, Justice Bhatti orally said.

"Even if there is 0.001% negligence on the part of anyone, it should be thoroughly dealt with. All these matters ought not to be treated as adversarial litigation."

Justice Bhatti also said that a candidate who becomes a doctor after playing fraud in the exam is more dangerous to the society. He added that the judges are conscious of the hard work which the candidates put in for this highly competitive exam.

"Imagine a situation where a person who has played fraud on the system, has become a doctor, he is more deleterious towards society....we all know the labour the children undergo especially for preparing for these exams."  Justice Bhatti remarked 

 Justice Bhatti also expressed that the NTA should act proactively and must admit if there is any mistake. This will re-instil the confidence of the public in the NEET examinations. 

"Your stance (the NTA and Union) ought not to change the moment you enter the court, representing the Agency which is responsible for conducting the examination. You must stand firm- if there is a mistake, yes there is a mistake, this is the action we will take- at least that inspires confidence in your performance....if someone keeps just a table in front of him, find out the performance of most of the candidates, one can easily understand where it has gone wrong, how many cell phones were used...clearly we react, but in vacation we react slowly."  

The petitioners in the present petition raised concerns over the updated status of the investigation into the NEET-UG paper leak cases. It was submitted that since the counselling for the NEET-UG is scheduled to take place on July 6, the investigation status was crucial to be known. 

The bench tagged the matter with other pending petitions and asked the counsels to raise their submissions in detail on July 8 at once. The NTA and Union were also directed to file their responses within 2 weeks. 

"We need timely action from you," Justice Nath orally told the Union and the NTA.

In response, the Union's counsel submitted that the decision taken last week to revoke the grace marks given to 1563 students indicated that the authorities are responsive to the concerns raised by the candidates. 

Case : NITIN VIJAY VS. NATIONAL TESTING AGENCY W.P.(C) No. 000373 / 2024