NEET-UG 2024 | Undeniable That Paper Leak Happened, Re-Test Necessary If Tainted Candidates Can't Be Segregated & Leak Is Widespread: Supreme Court

While hearing a batch of petitions challenging the NEET-UG 2024 exam, the Supreme Court today posed a volley of questions to the Union Government and the National Testing Agency (NTA) regarding the nature of the paper leak and steps taken to identify the beneficiaries of fraudulent practices.

Stating that the occurrence of the paper leak in the NEET-UG exam could not be denied, the Court said that what remained to be ascertained was if the nature of the leak was widespread or isolated, in order to decide the question of ordering a re-test.

"If we come to the conclusion that the time lag between the leak and the actual exam is limited, that will be a circumstance which will militate against the holding of a re-test," Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud observed.

"What is the modality in which the leak took place? If the modality of the leak is through electronic means and social media, then there is a possibility that the leak is widespread," CJI added.

The Court asked the Union Government and NTA to respond to certain specific queries (detailed below) and posted the matters for further hearing on July 11. It also asked the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) to submit a status report on the investigation into the paper leak cases.

Bench identifies certain "red flags"

The bench comprising CJI DY Chandrachud, Justices JB Pardiwala and Manoj Misra, while hearing a batch of petitions seeking to cancel the NEET-UG exam held on May 5 (of which results were declared on June 4), identified the following "red-flags" as requiring assessment.

"If we have to separate the grain from the chaff, we have to identify the red flags. If that is possible, it may be necessary to hold a re-test for that category alone," CJI said.

The red-flags cited for the authorities to consider were as under :

• There is an unprecedentedly high number of students who scored 720/720 marks. How many of those students are the beneficiaries of grace marks?;
• Students who registered at one centre and changed the exam centre to take the exam at a far-off place and secured high marks;
• Students who get exceptionally high marks in NEET, but whose performance is not reflected in their Class XII exams (however, the bench acknowledged that students may not study that hard for the board exams too);
• Students who get exceptionally high marks in one subject, but abysmally low in another subject.

"One thing which is very clear is that the leak has taken place. That the sanctity of the exam has been breached is beyond doubt. The question is how widespread is the leak," CJI commented.

However, SG Tushar Mehta denied that the paper leak itself happened (except at one place) and that it was a matter under investigation. He submitted that Bihar police has issued a clarification that they did not issue any press note, which was cited by the petitioners.

"Is the case of NTA today that there is no leak? We take it that there is an admitted position that there is a leak. The nature of the leak is the fact we are determining," CJI said.

Ordering a re-test for all students a tough task

The bench observed during the hearing that ordering a re-test for all students would be a tough task and an extreme decision.

"Before we decide to order a re-test, we must understand what is the nature of leak. Asking 23 lakh students to appear for a re-test is tough. First we would like to know the entire process. Second, the nature of FIRs. Third, the point of time when the leak took place and how the leak disseminated," CJI said.

Observations in the order

After the hearing, the Court dictated a short order specifying the points on which disclosures are needed from the Union government and/or CBI.

The Court said that it will have to scrutinize : (i) Whether the alleged breach has taken place at a systemic level; (ii) whether the breach has affected the integrity of the entire examination process; and (iii) whether it is possible to segregate the beneficiaries of fraud from the untainted students.

It was of the view that in a situation where the breach in the sanctity of an examination has affected the entirety of the process, and it is not possible to segregate the beneficiaries of wrongdoing from others, it may be necessary to order a re-examination. On the contrary, if the breach is confined to specific areas and it is possible to identify the wrongdoers, it may not be appropriate to order a re-test, especially in a exam involving 23 lakh students.

The Court directed the NTA to make a full disclosure before it on - (i) the nature of the leak, (ii) the places where the leak took place, (iii) the lag of time between the occurrence of the leak and the conduct of the exam.

From this perspective, the NTA was directed to clarify  - (i) when the leak of the question papers first took place, (ii) the manner in which the question papers were leaked and were disseminated, (iii) the duration between the occurrence of the leak and the actual conduct of the exam.

As per the dictated order, the Court should be apprised of - (i) steps taken by NTA to identify centres/cities in which the leak took place, (ii) modalities followed to identify the beneficiaries of the leak, and (iii) the number of students who have been so far identified.

Notably, during the hearing, the Court further asked Union/NTA whether it is feasible to use data analytics, either within the cyber forensic unit or any other expert agency, to identify the suspect cases. If this is possible, authorities shall identify the modalities which can be followed to segregate the tainted from the untainted.

In addition to the above, the Court instructed Union/NTA to inform about the status of counselling.

The hearing was adjourned with the Court voicing concerns about steps to be taken in future to ensure sanctity of NEET, so that such instances are not repeated in future. This would include constitution of a multi-disciplinary committee comprising of renowned experts.

Arguments of the petitioners

Today's hearing focused on petitions which seek cancellation of the NEET-UG 2024 exam on the ground that its sanctity has been vitiated by widespread instances of paper-leak, unfair means and impersonation.

Senior Advocate Narender Hooda (for petitioners) apprised the court that Bihar police has arrested persons involved in leaking the question papers through Telegram app. 

He made reference to precedents which hold that if there are faults at a systemic level and if it is impossible to segregate tainted and untainted candidates, then the entire exam has to be set aside. In this regard, it was mentioned that identity of beneficiaries of the NEET scam has not been ascertained exactly.

The senior counsel further submitted that according to the Bihar police, NTA has not followed the standard SOPs, indicating a systemic fault and a large-scale fraud.

"The NTA also says it cannot be sure at this stage whether it was a fault at a systemic level and was not aware of the sweep of the fraud. At the same time, the NTA is saying that the fraud is at a minuscule level", he added, pointing to the contradictory stances adopted by NTA.

In an attempt to highlight the largescale nature of the irregularities, it was informed that there are 6 FIRs registered in Bihar, Delhi, Rajasthan, Gujarat, Maharashtra and Jharkhand in relation to the NEET scam.

"So the fact that there was a paper leak is admitted?," CJI asked at this juncture. In response, SG Tushar Mehta said that only in Bihar, the students who indulged in wrongdoing have been identified and their results have been withheld.

Besides the above, the fact that as many as 67 candidates got 100% marks (720/720) in the exam was flagged by the petitioners, pointing out that it had never happened before.

 What is there to indicate that the malaise affected the entire exam? Bench asks

"To formulate your point, entire credibility of exam is lost and it is not possible to segregate tainted from untainted. What is the factual foundation for this?," CJI was heard asking the petitioners. In response, Hooda referred to police FIRs and a press release issued by Bihar police which blamed the NTA for not following the SOP.

"But does it indicate that it was a malaise affecting the entire exam?," CJI posed. Hooda replied that the question papers were being circulated through Telegram app - an electronic means - on May 3 and 4, ahead of the exam.

The bench at this stage asked the NTA about the number of candidates, the number of exam centres and the manner of transportation of the question papers to the centres. To this, NTA counsel Naresh Kaushik replied that 23,33,297 students attended the exam in over 4751 centres in 571 cities.

The Court then asked the NTA specific queries on how the question papers were prepared, when they were sent to the printing press, how they were transported between the exam centres, NTA and printing presses, etc.

Notably, the Union Government and National Testing Agency have filed affidavits before the Court opposing the demand to cancel the exam. They have told the Court that the instances of alleged malpractices are isolated and do not warrant the scrapping of the entire exam jeopardizing the future of lakhs of honest students.

What Is The NEET-UG Matter About?

Notice was issued on May 17 in the lead petition titled 'Vanshika Yadav v. Union of India' which seeks re-conduct of NEET UG 2024, in light of the alleged malpractices and paper leak of the exam. 

While the top Court refused to grant a stay on the results of the NEET-UG 2024 exam, the bench led by CJI DY Chandrachud agreed to consider the matter and posted it for hearing after summer vacations (in July). 

Several petitions have been filed before the top Court since, alleging that the nationwide examination held on May 5 by NTA was riddled with malpractices as various instances of paper leaks came to light. Subsequent to the declaration of the NEET-UG Results, additional pleas were raised against the 'arbitrary' grant of grace marks to 1536 candidates on grounds of 'loss of time' purportedly to give 'back-door entry' to certain individuals.

One of the petitions in the batch seeks recall of the NEET-UG 2024 results and conduct of a fresh examination. Other petitions seek CBI investigation into the alleged malpractices in the conduct of the exam. Notice has been issued in these matters and they have been tagged for a combined hearing.

Opposing the calls for 're-NEET' and cancelling results of the NEET-UG 2024 exam, a petition has also been filed in the Supreme Court by 56 Gujarat-based medical students for not re-conducting NEET afresh.

Key Developments During Hearing By The Vacation Bench

When the petitions came up for hearing before a Vacation Bench, the Court verbally stressed the need for NTA to accept accountability if there have been any mistakes on its part. It also observed that it was imperative for NTA to efficiently answer the Court considering how the 'sanctity' of the NEET-UG Examinations has been affected.

On June 21, the top Court refused to stay counselling process for medical admissions and clarified that any such admissions will be subject to the outcome of the pending petitions. On July 5, the NTA and Centre informed it that they were not in favor of cancelling the exam in entirety.

It may be noted that on June 22, the Ministry of Education constituted a high-level committee of experts to make recommendations on 'Reform in the mechanism of the examination process, improvement in Data Security protocols and structure and functioning of NTA'. The Expert Committee will be chaired by Former ISRO Chairman Dr K Radhakrishnan.

Case Details : Vanshika Yadav v. UOI, W.P.(C) No. 335-/2024 (and connected matters)