Blitz Bureau
THE Supreme Court has refused to cancel NEET-UG 2024 examination and order a re-test. The order paves the way for commencement of counselling process for admission to undergraduate courses in government and private medical colleges across India.
Referring to the data analytics undertaken by IIT Madras and other statistics placed on record, a three-judge Bench led by Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud on July 23 said that the material on record is not indicative of a systemic leak of the question paper to indicate a disruption of the sanctity of the examination held on May 5. The Bench said, “We are of the considered view that ordering the cancellation of the entire NEET UG 2024 exam is not justified on application of settled principles propounded by the decisions of this court on the basis of material on record”.
The Bench – which also included Justice JB Pardiwala and Justice Manoj Misra — said that directing a fresh NEET UG will be replete with serious consequences which will be for over 23 lakh students who appeared in this exam and would cause disruption of admission schedule. The apex court said cancellation of NEET UG 2024 can have cascading effects on the course of medical education, impact on availability of qualified medical professionals in the future and be seriously disadvantageous for the marginalised group for whom reservation was made in allocation of seats.
Regarding a particular question in physics section of NEET-UG 2024 Examination, the top court has asked National Testing Agency (NTA) to retally the NEET UG result on the basis that option 4 represented the only correct answer to the question. The apex court clarified that its judgment won’t prevent authorities from taking action against candidates who had secured admission using malpractices.
Meanwhile, Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan welcomed verdict and said truth has finally prevailed. Addressing the media, Pradhan said, the Narendra Modi Government is committed towards a transparent, tamper-free and zero-error examination system. He said government is committed to making NTA a zero-error organisation. He stressed that those who are involved in the NEET scam will not be spared and added that a high-level committee for a complete revamp of NTA has been formed and the committee has collected expert opinions and studied various models.
Pradhan slammed the Congress and alleged that party leader Rahul Gandhi tried to misguide the people of the country by casting aspersions on Indian education system. He accused Gandhi of trying to create civil unrest and anarchy on the NEET issue.
