No mass malpractice in NEET-UG exam, Centre tells court, cites IIT report

The Centre on Wednesday filed its affidavit before the Supreme Court in the NEET-UG case, denying any mass malpractice in the medical entrance exam conducted on May 5.

During a hearing on Monday, July 8, the Supreme Court asked the Centre and National Testing Agency (NTA) to file their responses on the extent of the paper leak and possible segregation of the wrongdoers from others.

Over 40 petitions are reportedly listed for hearing in the Supreme Court.

In the last hearing in the NEET-UG 2024 case, a three-judge bench headed by Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud heard a set of pleas and listed the matter for July 11.

The NEET-UG, conducted by the National Testing Agency (NTA), is the entrance examination for MBBS, BDS, AYUSH, and other related courses in government and private institutions nationwide. The NEET-UG 2024 exam held on May 5 was marred by controversies regarding paper leaks and some students being provided grace marks.

What did Supreme Court say?
The Supreme Court, during its hearing on July 8, ordered the NTA to make disclosures on when the question paper leak took place, how the papers were leaked and the time duration between the occurrence of the paper leak and the actual conduct of the NEET-UG examination on May 5.

The top court also instructed the central government to submit affidavits detailing their actions and asked for a status report from the CBI regarding the NEET-UG examination. The court also acknowledged compromise in the examination.

“The fact that the sanctity of exam has been compromised is beyond doubt. It is an admitted fact that there is a leak, and the nature of the leak is something that we are determining. If it is not extensive, then there is no cancellation. But before we order a retest, we must be conscious of the extent of the leak as we are dealing with 23 lakh students,” the three-judge bench said.

Centre’s and NTA affidavits in Supreme Court
The Centre submitted an affidavit in the Supreme Court on Wednesday, saying there was neither any indication of “mass malpractice” nor a localised set of candidates being benefitted leading to abnormal scores in NEET-UG 2024.

It further cited the data analytics conducted by IIT-Madras into the NEET UG results and said that the marks distribution follows the “bell-shaped curve” that is witnessed in any large-scale examination indicating no abnormality.

The Union government’s affidavit also includes the measures it took to ensure the sanctity of the examination and address any malpractices.

Meanwhile, the NTA also submitted an affidavit in the apex court, maintaining that only 47 candidates have been suspected of engaging in paper leaks and irregularities relating to OMR sheets so far. It added that they are considering the option to replace the mode of conduct of the examination from OMR (pen and paper) to online tests.

The NTA also mentioned that it would rely on the IIT-Madras report during the proceedings on Thursday.

Eight arrested in NEET-UG 2024 irregularities
The CBI on Tuesday arrested two more people from Patna in connection with the alleged paper leak case. According to officials, Sunny Kumar, a NEET-UG candidate, was arrested from Nalanda, while Ranjit Kumar, another candidate’s father, was arrested from Gaya.

So far, the probe agency has arrested a total of eight people from Bihar and Jharkhand in the case.