Giving its detailed reasons for not cancelling the National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test undergraduate exam for the year 2024 (NEET UG 2024) over paper leak allegations and other irregularities in the exam, the Supreme Court on Friday said  there was no systemic breach, confirming that the leak was confined only to Patna and Hazaribagh.  “Therefore no retest would be needed with respect to this year’s exam,” the top court ruled.

In their 63-page judgment, a Bench of Chief Justice of India (CJI) DY Chandrachud, Justices JB Pardiwala and Manoj Misra said the NTA should avoid “flip flops” which was noticed this year as it does not serve the interest of students.  It also expanded the remit of the Centre-appointed panel headed by former Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) chief K Radhakrishnan constituted to review the functioning of the National Testing Agency (NTA), which holds the National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test (Undergraduate) (NEET-UG), and recommend examination reforms. The top court said since the remit of the panel has been expanded, the committee would submit its report by September 30 on various measures to rectify deficiencies in the examination system.

The bench said the Radhakrishnan panel should consider framing standard operating procedures for adoption of technological advancements to strengthen the examination system.

The bench of Chief Justice DY Chandrachud, Justices JB Pardiwala and Manoj Misra gave detailed reasons for its July 23 order refusing to cancel the controversy-ridden NEET-UG 2024 examination.

“....Sufficient material is not on record at present which indicates there were no systemic leak or systemic malpractice. The material on record does not, at present, substantiate allegation of widespread malpractices which compromised the integrity of the exam. On the contrary, an assessment of the data indicates that there are no deviations which indicate that systemic cheating has taken place,” the court said in a detailed order.

CJI Chandrachud said the information before the court at this stage does not show that the question paper was disseminated widely using social media or the internet, or that the answers were being communicated to students using sophisticated electronic means which may prove difficult to trace. “The students who were beneficiaries of the leak at Hazaribagh and Patna are easy to be identified. The CBI probe reveals the number of students who are beneficiaries of the malpractice at Hazaribagh and Patna at this stage.

“This leads us to conclude that it is possible to separate the beneficiaries of malpractice or fraud from the honest students. This being the case, the court cannot direct a re-exam,” the bench said.

The Court said the paper was leaked in Patna and Hazaribagh. In one of the centres, the rear door of the strong room was opened and unauthorised persons were permitted to access the question papers. This indicates that there is a serious lapse in security and that security measures which are stringent and effective must be implemented by NTA. Further, it came to light that the question papers were sometimes transported in e-rickshaws and that the services of private courier companies were availed of.

“ Another point of concern is that NTA relies on persons over whom it does not exercise direct oversight to be the invigilators for the exam. There are various methods which may be adopted to ensure appropriate oversight over invigilators and decrease the likelihood of the use of unfair means. All of these issues indicate that the security protocols must be tightened to decrease the possibility of malpractice and fraud and to lessen access by private persons to the question papers”.

“In at least 12 centres, the question paper stored in Canara Bank was wrongly distributed to candidates. The question paper which should have been distributed was the one stored in SBI. In many centres, aspirants completed the incorrect question paper and were ultimately evaluated while in others, the relevant authorities realised the mistake and then distributed the correct question paper. This either indicates that the city coordinators were irresponsible and not fit for duty or that the information as to which question paper was to be distributed to candidates was not properly communicated to them. Certainly, neither Canara Bank nor SBI appear to have been notified as to whether the papers in their custody were to be released,” the judgment said.

The CJI, in the 63-page detailed order, was also critical of the conduct of the NTA.The order said while the various issues the court dealt with do not lead to the conclusion that the integrity of the NEET was vitiated at a systemic level, “the manner in which NTA has organised the exam this year gives rise to serious concerns.”

“A body such as NTA which is entrusted with immense responsibility in relation to highly important competitive exams cannot afford to misstep, take an incorrect decision, and amend it at a later stage. All decisions must be well-considered, with due regard to the importance of the decision. Flip- flops are an anathema to fairness. NTA is directed to ensure that all the concerns highlighted by the Court in this judgment are addressed. The committee constituted by the Union Government is also requested to keep these issues in mind while formulating its recommendations,” the Court observed in the judgment.

“We did not cancel the NEET-UG examination because there was no systemic breach of sanctity of the exam beyond Hazaribagh and Patna,” the bench said. At the time, it had held that the evidence before it was not sufficient to show any widespread leaks of question papers as alleged, and any leak was limited to a few students who can be separated from the untainted ones.

 It issued a slew of directions and expanded the remit of the Centre-appointed panel headed by former ISRO chief K Radhakrishnan to review the NTA’s functioning and recommend exam reforms. The Court also flagged the NTA’s decision to award grace marks to 1563 students to compensate for the loss of time they suffered for being given the wrong question paper. However, this decision was later retracted and those students were made to appear for a re-test.

“…it needs to be clarified that if any student, including in the present batch, has an individual grievance not bearing on the issues which have been resolved by this judgment, it would be open to them to pursue their rights and remedies in accordance with law, including by moving the jurisdictional High Courts under Article 226 of the Constitution. However, before moving the High Court for the grant of relief, the petitioners would have to seek the withdrawal of their petitions before this Court, if any have been filed,” reads the judgment. 

The bench said since the remit of the panel has been expanded, the committee would submit its report by September 30 on various measures to rectify deficiencies in the examination system. The bench said the Radhakrishnan panel should consider framing standard operating procedure for adoption of technological advancements to strengthen the examination system.  It said the issues which have arisen during the NEET-UG examination should be rectified by the Centre.

“Consider the viability of NTA conducting comprehensive training programs for all staff involved in the examination process (including but not limited to question paper setters, invigilators, and administrative personnel). These programs should cover security protocols, ethical standards, and the latest technology to ensure everyone involved is well-equipped to maintain the integrity of the examination,” it said.

In the judgment, the Court has given additional directions to the expert committee, which was constituted by the Union Government on June 22 to examine measures to make the exam process more robust.

On July 23, the top court dismissed the pleas seeking cancellation and re-test of the exam, holding that there was no evidence on record to conclude that it was “vitiated” on account of “systemic breach” of its sanctity.