The NEET-UG 2024 issue surrounding the May 5 medical entrance exam will be the subject of petitions heard by the Supreme Court of India. More than forty cases would be heard today by a bench that included Chief Justice DY Chandrachud, Justices J B Pardiwala and Manoj Misra.
These requests include moving cases against the National Testing Agency (NTA) that are pending in several high courts on the NEET row, cancelling the exam, retesting, and looking into suspected malpractices in the conduct of NEET-UG 2024.
On July 8, Chief Justice DY Chandrachud stated that requiring a retest for around 23 lakh students would be a last resort, noting that many candidates hail from low-income households and cannot afford the additional travel costs unless they are really necessary.
The question now is: Will today’s retest be mandated by the Supreme Court? Before rendering a decision, the Supreme Court emphasised during the previous hearing that a thorough investigation and a full report were required. The supreme court laid forth the standards for figuring out if a retest is necessary the same day.
These requirements include whether the purported violation was systemic in character, whether it jeopardised the validity of the testing procedure, and whether it is practical to distinguish between the pupils who gained from the fraud and the rest of the class.
If the breach is significant enough to make it hard to distinguish between applicants who have been compromised and those who have not, the court may order a retest right away.
The exam’s cancellation, according to the Centre and the NTA, would be “counterproductive” and “seriously jeopardise” the careers of many honest applicants, particularly in light of the dearth of proof supporting any substantial confidentiality breaches.
On May 5, the exam was taken by nearly 23.33 lakh students at 4,750 locations throughout 571 cities, including 14 international cities. The National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test-Undergraduate (NEET-UG) is administered by NTA to candidates for admission to MBBS, BDS, AYUSH, and other relevant programmes in both public and private universities across India.
