NEET UG 2024 Results: SC Issues Notice On Plea For CBI Probe Into Allegations

The Supreme Court of India on Friday issued notices to the central government and the National Testing Agency (NTA) over a plea for a CBI probe into allegations of question paper leaks and other irregularities in NEET-UG 2024.

A vacation bench of Justices Vikram Nath and Sandeep Mehta tagged the cases with earlier petitions addressing similar issues, scheduled for July 8. The NTA was directed to respond within two weeks, while other respondents, including the Centre, were given until the next hearing date.

Furthermore, the court issued notices to private parties in response to an NTA plea seeking the transfer of cases related to the NEET-UG row from various high courts to the Supreme Court to avoid multiple litigations.

All parties, including the Centre and NTA, have been asked to respond within two weeks. The vacation bench acknowledged NTA's counsel's submission that several pleas seeking the cancellation of NEET-UG 2024 due to allegations of question paper leaks and malpractices are pending in various high courts.

The matter is scheduled for further hearing on July 8.

The Centre on Thursday informed the Supreme Court that it has decided to revoke the grace marks awarded to 1563 students.

The counsel for the Union Government stated that these candidates will receive notifications regarding their updated scores, which will not include the previously awarded grace marks.

The students will then have the option to undergo a re-test. Also, if they choose not to take the re-test, their scores from the exam held on May 5 will be taken into account.

Explaining the measures taken by the government to address the issue, it said, "A committee meeting was held on June 10, 11, and 12 to investigate the allegations. Based on the committee's recommendations, the scorecards of the affected candidates will be cancelled, and a re-examination will be held for these students".

The apex court stated that it will not stop the counselling process for NEET-UG 2024.

"Counselling will proceed as scheduled and there will be no interruption. If the exam continues, everything else will proceed as well, so there is no cause for concern," the Supreme Court said.There were three petitions calling for the cancellation of NEET UG 2024 and a retest, citing alleged irregularities in grace mark allocation.

The NTA conducted the NEET (UG) 2024 examination on May 5 across 4,750 centers, with approximately 24 lakh candidates participating. Originally slated for June 14, the results were announced on June 4, reportedly due to expedited answer sheet evaluations.