SC asks IIT Delhi panel to give opinion on contentious Physics question in NEET-UG exam

New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Monday asked IIT Delhi to form an expert panel to give its opinion on the decision of the National Testing Agency (NTA) to treat two options as the correct answers to a Physics question in the NEET-UG examination.

A bench, headed by CJI D.Y. Chandrachud, said: "We request the Director of IIT Delhi to constitute a team of three experts of the subject concerned. The expert team is requested to formulate its opinion on the correct option and to remit its opinion to the registrar of this court by 12 noon on July 23."

The bench, also comprising Justices J.B. Pardiwala and Manoj Misra, directed that a copy of its order may be forwarded on Monday itself to the Director, IIT Delhi for expeditious action.

In the batch of petitions alleging irregularities in the conduct of the NEET-UG exam, petitioners questioned the award of grace marks in respect of a contentious Physics question, adding that as many as 44 candidates were able to secure full marks on account of the ambiguous question. They contended that the NTA's decision to award compensatory marks contradicts its own instruction asking students to follow the latest NCERT textbook.

The matter will be taken up for further hearing on Tuesday.

In the previous hearing, the apex court had sought a copy of the report of Bihar Police and its Economic Offences Unit (EOU) in relation to the NEET question paper leak case.

Solicitor General Tushar Mehta undertook that he will place on record the copy of the report filed by Patna police as well as the report filed by EOU of Bihar Police.

The NEET question paper leak case was cracked by Patna police on May 5, the day of the examination and an FIR was registered at the city’s Shastri Nagar Police Station. The case was later transferred to the EOU of Bihar Police for investigation. On June 23, the Centre decided to transfer the investigation to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).

The SC also asked the NTA to release on its website centre-wise results after redacting personal information, including the roll number of the candidates. During the hearing, the apex court had asked the petitioners to illustrate that the leak was so systematic that the exam must be cancelled in its entirety and conducted afresh. It reiterated that if tainted cases cannot be segregated from untainted ones, the entire examination has to go.

Earlier, the top court had directed the NTA to make full disclosure regarding the nature of the paper leak, the places where leaks took place, and the lag of time between the occurrence of the leak and the conduct of the examination. It also asked the CBI to file a status report indicating the status of the investigation and the material collected during the course of the probe.