The Supreme Court has directed the National Testing Agency (NTA) to release the center and city-wise results of the controversial NEET-UG 2024 by 12 noon on July 20, while masking the identities of the aspirants.
The court’s aim is to determine whether candidates from allegedly tainted centers scored higher marks than those from other centers.
A bench led by Chief Justice D Y Chandrachud emphasized that any decision to conduct a re-examination would require concrete evidence that the alleged leak was “systemic” and compromised the entire process.
The court stated, “We direct the NTA to publish the marks obtained by students at the UG-2024 NEET examination, without disclosing the identity of the students. The result should be declared city and centre wise by 12 noon on July 20, 2024, and uploaded on the NTA website.”
The top court will continue hearing arguments on July 22 on a series of pleas seeking the cancellation, re-test, and a court-monitored investigation into the alleged malpractices in the exam. The bench also noted that petitioners’ counsel suggested publishing the results on the NTA website to ensure transparency regarding center-wise marks.
Additionally, the court ordered the submission of material collected by the Bihar Police and the report from its Economic Offences Wing (EOW) by 5 P.M. on July 20. The bench highlighted the urgency of the matter due to its “social ramifications” and the impact on lakhs of students awaiting the outcome.
The court rejected the petitioners’ claim that they were disadvantaged as the CBI’s status report was not made available to them. Chief Justice Chandrachud clarified, “This is not a sealed cover procedure, and we are all for transparency. If the CBI’s information is revealed prematurely, it could jeopardize the investigation.”
Senior advocate Narender Hooda, representing some petitioners, argued for the exam’s cancellation, citing “systemic failure” and alleged compromised transportation of question papers. Hooda claimed the papers were in the custody of a private courier company for six days in Hazaribagh and were transported to an exam center in an e-rickshaw. He stated that around 23.33 lakh students took the exam for about 1.08 lakh seats in medical colleges.
The bench responded that a re-examination could only be justified if there was concrete evidence that the entire exam was affected. It observed that the question paper leak seemed limited to Patna and Hazaribagh, with no similar issues in Godhra, Gujarat.
The court questioned the NTA’s decision to hire a private courier for transporting question papers and asked about the revenue generated from such exams. Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, representing the Centre, asserted there was no leak and referred to the CBI’s seven-layer safety system designed to prevent malpractice.
The bench expressed concern over the time gap between the alleged breach and the exam. It also requested a copy of the Bihar Police report, which initially investigated the case.
At the end of the hearing, when Hooda asked if NEET-UG 2024 counseling could be stayed, Mehta responded that counseling takes two to three months and is likely to start on July 24.
Over 23.33 lakh students took the NEET-UG 2024 on May 5 at 4,750 centers in 571 cities, including 14 overseas locations. The NEET-UG is conducted by the NTA for admissions to MBBS, BDS, AYUSH, and other related courses in government and private institutions across the country.
