Directing the National Testing Agency (NTA) for full disclosures on three major aspects of the NEET-UG paper leak case, the Supreme Court on Monday said the fact there was a paper leak in the NEET-UG exam cannot be denied and it has to be ascertained if the nature of the leak was widespread or isolated to decide on ordering a re-test.
Referring to legal position on ordering re-test, the bench said it will have to be "scrutinised whether the alleged breach has taken place at systemic level, whether the breach has affected integrity of the entire exam process and whether it is possible to segregate the beneficiaries of fraud from the untainted students". "In a situation where breach affects the entirety of process and it is not possible to segregate the beneficiaries from others, it may be necessary to order a re-test," the bench said.
The court said if the sanctity of NEET-UG 2024 is "lost" and if the leak of its question paper has been propagated through social media, then a re-test has to be ordered.
The bench said the extent of question paper leak and the beneficiaries across geographical boundaries have to be ascertained before the top court may order a re-test in the controversy-ridden exam which was taken up by 23.33 lakh students at 4,750 centres in 571 cities including in 14 cities overseas.
It said if the breach was confined to specific areas and it was possible to identify the wrongdoers, then it may not be appropriate to order for a re-test in an examination of such a massive scale.
A three-judge bench headed by Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud and Justices JB Pardiwala and Manoj Misra, hearing a batch of petitions challenging the NEET-UG 2024 exam, also sought number of wrongdoers identified so far and methodology adopted for the paper leak.
"Let us not be in self-denial. Self-denial is only adding to the problem," a bench headed by Chief Justice D Y Chandrachud told the Centre and the NTA, which conducts the prestigious test, in a string of strongly-worded observations. "One thing which is very clear is that the leak has taken place. That the sanctity of the exam has been breached is beyond doubt. The question is how widespread is the leak," said the bench which also comprised Justices JB Pardiwala and Manoj Misra.
The Supreme Court was hearing 38 petitions related to the NEET UG 2024 exam irregularities and a demand for retest. The Chief Justice however flagged that if the paper leak took place through social media or electronic means of communication then it would have spread like “wildfire”.
"The fact that the sanctity of the exam has been compromised is beyond doubt, that there has been a leak ... We take it that there is a leak, there is no question about it. But the nature of the leak is what we are determining. The fact that there was a leakage of question papers cannot be disputed. Now, what is the consequence of that leak would depend on the nature of that leak ... If it is not extensive, then there is no cancellation. Before we order a retest, we must be careful. What is the nature of that leak? We are dealing with the careers of 23 lakh students ... What is the point of time that the leak took place? How was the leak disseminated? These are important questions. And next, very important - what are the actions which the government of India and NTA had taken to identify the wrong-doings and who are the beneficiaries of the wrongdoings?" the CJI remarked.
The bench asked the NTA to apprise it about the steps taken to identify the centres and cities where the question paper leak took place, the modalities followed for identifying the beneficiaries and their numbers ascertained so far.
"Before we decide to pass an order for a re-test, we must understand what is the nature of leak," the bench said, adding it was tough to ask over 23 lakh candidates to re-appear for the examination. "What is the modality in which the leak took place? If the modality of the leak is through electronic means like Telegram and WhatsApp ..., then there is a possibility that the leak is widespread," it said.
"From this perspective, the NTA is directed to clarify on the basis of the materials in its possession: (i) When the leak of question paper first took place; (ii) the manner in which question paper was leaked and disseminated; (iii) the time duration between the occurrence of leak and the actual conduct of exam which took place on May 5," it said. Expressing concern over ensuring the sanctity of NEET-UG, the court said it would be necessary for the government to consider setting up a multi-disciplinary team of renowned experts so that such instances are not repeated in future.
Posting for July 11 the next hearing on a batch of pleas alleging irregularities in the NEET-UG, the court directed the investigating officer of the CBI, which is conducting probe into the allegations of malpractices, OMR sheet manipulation, impersonation and cheating, to place before it a report indicating the status of probe. The CJI further said that the technology available today should make it easier to identify the culprits by using data analytics etc.
Earlier, the Ministry of Education and the National Testing Agency in their affidavits, informed the court that scrapping it would be “counterproductive” and "seriously jeopardise" lakhs of honest candidates in the absence of proof of large-scale breach of confidentiality. The ministry and the NTA said there was no proof of any large-scale breach of confidentiality in the examination which was taken by over 23 lakh candidates at 4,750 centres in 571 cities.
Several students and coaching institutes have filed pleas against the NEET UG 2024 result. The lawyers representing a petitioner said that they were seeking the cancellation of the exam on grounds such as paper leak, OMR sheet manipulation, impersonation and cheating. "There is no question that leak of question paper has taken place. We are determining the extent of the leak," the bench observed. It said there were certain "red flags" as 67 candidates had scored 720 out of 720."In the previous years, the proportion was very low," the bench added.
