Supreme Court Bench Led By CJI DY Chandrachud To Hear NEET-UG Petitions On July 8

The Supreme Court bench of CJI DY Chandrachud and Justices JB Pardiwala and Manoj Misra is set to hear the batch of petitions challenging the alleged malpractices and irregularities in the NEET-UG 2024 Examination conducted by the National Testing Agency (NTA) on July 8.

The cause list for July 8, published on the Supreme Court's website, showed that the matters are listed before the bench led by CJI DY Chandrachud.

It may be noted that on May 17, a bench led by CJI DY Chandrachud had issued notice on a petition alleging a paper leak of the NEET-UG exam and posted the matter on July 8 (the day of re-opening after the summer vacations). On that day, the bench also turned down a prayer to stay the declaration of the results.

After the declaration of the NEET-UG results on June 4, multiple petitions were filed raising concerns over the fairness of the procedure adopted by the NTA, the issue of grant of grace marks to 1563 candidates and the need for the CBI probe into the conduct of examination along with the prayer to hold the NEET-UG afresh.

What Is The NEET-UG Matter About?

Several petitions have been filed before the Top Court alleging that the nationwide examination held on May 5 by the National Testing Agency (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 also 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 also seeks to recall the NEET-UG 2024 results & the conduct of a fresh examination. Additional petitions were also filed which sought CBI investigation into the alleged malpractices in the conduct of the examination. Notice was issued in these matters and tagged together for a combined hearing on July 8.

Key Developments During Hearing By The Vacation Bench

When the petitions came up for hearing before the Vacation Bench, the Court on multiple occasions verbally stressed the need for NTA to accept accountability if there have been any mistakes on its part. The Court 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.

It may be noted that during the hearing of these matters by the Vacation Bench of Justices Vikram Nath and Sandeep Mehta, the Union informed the Court that a decision has been taken to cancel the grace marks of 1563 candidates.

On June 21, the bench of Justices Vikram Nath and SVN Bhatti refused to stay the counselling/seat allotment process for NEET-UG which is scheduled to commence on July 6. The bench orally observed that any medical admissions will be subject to the final outcome of the pending petitions.

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 VS. UNION OF INDIA W.P.(C) No. 000335 - / 2024 & Connected Matters