SUPREME COURT REFUSES TO ALLOW FRESH EXAMINATION OF NEET-UG 2024 OWING TO LACK OF EVIDENCE OF BREACH OF SANCTITY OF EXAM AS A WHOLE

In the much-awaited judgment involving question of conducting a fresh examination of the National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test (NEET-UG) 2024 for all candidates, a three Judge Bench of the Hon’ble Supreme Court comprising of CJI Dr DY Chandrachud, Justice JB Pardiwala and Justice Manoj Misra passed an Order dated 23-07-2024 in the matter of Vanshika Yadav vs Union of India and Others, Writ Petition (Civil) No 335 of 2024 and held that a fresh examination for all applicants would be unjustified, as there is no material on record to show that the sanctity of the exam as a whole across all centres in India has been breached.

Facts

1) In the present case, a batch of Writ Petitions were filed before the Apex Court seeking scrapping of the earlier NEET-UG examination conducted by the National Testing Agency on 05-05-2024 for admissions into medical colleges in India, on the ground that (i) there was a leakage of question paper(s) and (ii) there were systemic and structural deficiencies in the conduct of the examination. As a result, the Petitioners sought for a re-test of the NEET-UG 2024 for all candidates.

2) That during the pendency of the case before the Supreme Court, the investigation by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) was underway and all FIRs registered in the States of Delhi, Gujarat, Rajasthan, Jharkhand, Maharashtra and Bihar in the aforesaid case were transferred to CBI.

Supreme Court Observations

The Apex Court, vide Order dated 23-07-2024, made the following observations in the aforesaid Petitions:

• That it is an undisputed fact that the NEET (UG) 2024 question paper had in fact leaked at Hazaribagh, Jharkhand and at Patna, Bihar.
• That as per CBI Reports dated 10-07-2024, 17-07-2024 and 21-07-2024, around 155 students drawn from the examination centres at Hazaribagh and Patna appeared to be the beneficiaries of the fraud. However, the investigation is still underway.
• That based on the National Testing Agency’s records and data analytics regarding possibility of existence of abnormalities in conducting of NEET-UG exam on the basis of the results emanating from 4,750 centres across 571 cities for the years 2022, 2023 and 2024, the Constitution Bench held that the comparison of the city-wise and centre-wise data of the previous years does not indicate a systemic leak of the question paper, thereby, impacting the sanctity of the examination of NEET-UG 2024 as a whole across all centres. Hence, the Bench held that “at the present stage, there is an absence of material on the record to lead to the conclusion that the entire result of the examination stands vitiated or that there was a systemic breach in the sanctity of the examination”.

Conclusion

Therefore, based on the aforesaid observations, the Supreme Court held that at the present stage, as there is no material on record to show that the sanctity of the entire examination of NEET-UG 2024 as a whole has been breached and as it is not possible to segregate tainted students from those whose candidature does not suffer from any taint at all, hence, directing a fresh NEET-UG exam would not be justified, as it would lead to a disruption of the admission schedule for the commencement of medical courses, have cascading effects on the course of medical education and also adversely impact students belonging to marginalized communities and weaker sections for whom reservation has been made in the allocation of seats.

Further, in the event that the CBI investigation further reveals involvement of students / beneficiaries in the said fraudulent malpractice, action would be taken against them at any stage, notwithstanding the completion of the counselling process.

As a result, the Petitions were dismissed with liberty to approach the High Courts having jurisdiction to pursue their rights and remedies in respect of any individual grievances and issues that have not been already resolved by the aforesaid judgment.

 

Harini Daliparthy

Lead Senior Associate

The Indian Lawyer

 

Editor’s Comments

The Apex Court probably realising the impracticality of re-examination of NEET Exam on a national level had to balance the situation and directed no fresh NEET-UG exam will be held. To serve justice it directed that if the CBI investigation reveals involvement of students / beneficiaries in the said fraudulent malpractice, action would be taken against them at any stage. Though this judgment has been criticised, one cannot lose sight of the fact that re-examination would have led to a loss of hundreds of man hours that these students had put in due to the fraud of a few and the Apex Court probably felt it was not justified.

 

Sushila Ram Varma

Chief Consultant

The Indian Lawyer