Centre Opposes Cancellation Of NEET-UG 2024, Tells Supreme Court That Scrapping Entire Exam Will Affect Lakhs

The Union Government has filed an affidavit in the Supreme Court opposing the cancellation of the NEET-UG 2024 exam, saying that it is not rational to scrap the entire exam in the absence of any proof of large-scale breach of confidentiality.

"Scrapping the exam in its entirety would seriously jeopardise the lakhs of honest candidates who attempted the question paper in 2024," stated the affidavit filed by the Union Ministry of Education ahead of the Supreme Court hearing scheduled on July 8. Agreeing that genuine concerns based on proven facts must be addressed, the Ministry stated that prayers raised in the petitions for cancellation of the exam and the re-test based on "surmises" and "conjectures" must be rejected.

Stating that it is committed towards the conduct of all competitive examinations in a fair and transparent manner, the Ministry assured the Court that stern action will be taken against the criminals if it is found that the confidentiality of the papers has been compromised.

"...in the absence of any proof of any large-scale breach of confidentiality in a pan-India examination, it would not be rational to scrap the entire examination and the results already declared. It is submitted that in any examination, there are competing rights that have been created whereby the interests of a large number of students who have taken the examination without adopting any alleged unfair means must not also be jeopardized. Scrapping the exam in entirety would seriously jeopardize the lakhs of honest candidates who attempted the question paper in 2024"- Centre tells Supreme Court

The Union Ministry further stated that regarding the alleged instances of impersonation, cheating and malpractices in the exam, the CBI has been asked to carry out a comprehensive investigation. It also informed the Court that a high-level committee has been constituted to suggest measures for effective, smooth and transparent conduct of the examinations by the National Testing Agency. The committee has started its deliberations and has invited suggestions from the public on reform measures.

The Ministry also told the Court that the law to deal with cheating and paper-leaks of public examinations,  the Public Examinations (Prevention of Unfair Means) Act, 2024, has been brought into operation with effect from June 21.

The Ministry clarified that what was being filed was only a preliminary affidavit which does not deal with every contention of the petitioners in a detailed manner. It reserved the right to file a detailed affidavit later.

A bench led by Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud will hear a batch of petitions seeking the cancellation of NEET-UG 2024 on July 8. The petitioners allege that the sanctity of the exam has been affected by the leakage of question papers ahead of the exam. At the same time, certain other petitions have been filed by some candidates opposing the demand for re-test, contending that honest students should not be penalised for the misdeeds of a few.

The Centre's preliminary affidavit is filed in the case Shivangi Mishra and others v. National Testing Agency and others, in which the Supreme Court had issued notice on June 11. While considering the matter on June 11, a vacation bench of the Court had orally commented that the Court needed answers from the Centre and the NTA as the sanctity of the exam has been affected. However, the Court refused to stay the counselling process.

The NTA has also filed a similar affidavit.

No Systemic Failure In NEET-UG 24, Instances Of Paper Leak & Unfair Means Isolated : NTA To Supreme Court, Opposes Cancellation Of Exam