No Mass Malpractice In NEET-UG 24 As Per Data Analytics : Centre Tells Supreme Court

The Union Government has filed an affidavit in the Supreme Court denying any mass malpractice in the NEET-UG 2024 exam. The Centre said that the data analytics done by the Indian Institute of Technology Madras showed that mark distribution followed a bell-shaped curve that is seen in any large-scale exam, indicating no abnormalities.

"There is neither any indication of mass malpractice nor a localised set of candidates being benefited leading to abnormal scores," the report given by the experts' team from IIT Madras stated, which has been annexed along with the Centre's affidavit.

On the last hearing date (July 8), a bench led by CJI DY Chandrachud sought the responses of the Union/NTA on the extent of the paper leak and possible segregation of the wrongdoers from others. The Court said that if the sanctity of the entire exam has been affected and it was impossible to seperate the beneficiaries of fraud from the honest candidates, then a re-test may be necessary. The Court also said that the re-test would be the last option, considering the impact on nearly 24 lakh students.

Elaborating, the Centre, in its affidavit, has also said that IIT Madras undertook an exhaustive and elaborate technical evaluation of the data pertaining to the exam. Based on this, the above findings were made. 

Regarding the increase in marks, it has been submitted that there is an overall increase in the marks obtained by students, specifically in the range of 550 to 720. This increase is seen across the cities and centres. This is attributed to 25% reduction in syllabus. In addition, candidates obtaining such high marks are spread across multiple cities and multiple centers, indicating very less likelihood of malpractice.

Counselling from July 3rd week

Considering the aspect of counselling, it has been submitted that it will be conducted in four rounds starting from the third week of July. For any candidate, if it is found that he/she has been the beneficiary of any malpractice, the candidature of such person would be cancelled at any stage during the counselling process or even afterwards.

Lastly, it has underlined the steps taken by the Centre to maintain the sanctity of the exam. After underlining the steps undertaken, the affidavit stated:

"It is submitted that the Union of India is committed towards making a robust examination process for conducting all competitive examinations in a fair and transparent manner, which is completely insulated from any kind of room, for criminally minded people, for perpetrating any kind of malpractice in the examination process such as impersonation, cheating or paper-leak. The Union of India duly appreciates that the Confidentiality of the question papers is the utmost priority in any examination and remains committed towards protecting the interests of lakhs of students who have attempted the question papers fairly and after years of hard work, without trying to obtain any illegal advantage."

The Centre and the NTA earlier filed affidavits opposing the demand to cancel the NEET-UG 2024 exam. They stated that the instances of malpractices are localised and not widespread.

The Supreme Court will hear the matter tomorrow (July 11).

Case: Shivangi Mishra and ors. v. NTA and ors., WRIT PETITION (CIVIL) NO. 362 OF 2024

Also read - Video Showing NEET Paper Leak In Telegram Fake : NTA Tells Supreme Court