Plea in SC seeks recall of NEET-UG results

New Delhi: A plea has been moved in the Supreme Court seeking a direction to recall NEET-UG 2024 results and to conduct the examination afresh claiming that major malpractice has occurred in the exam.

Abdullah Mohammed Faiz and others, who belong to Telangana and Andhra Pradesh, have filed the plea. The petitioners claimed that they were members of an organisation working to assist and benefit students. The petition has cited various incidents of reported paper leaks and award of grace marks without any basis. “Eight students’ from the same centre cleared the entrance examination scoring full marks in the entrance examination, 720 out of 720.

Some students have secured 718 and 719 marks which is statistically not possible. There is no defined logic for the grace marks given to the students as well as no list has been shared as per given grace marks to students. Moreover, the reason for awarding grace marks is a waste of time, however, the same was never disclosed in the information bulletin before the exam,” said the plea.

The plea alleged that the grant of grace marks by the National Testing Agency, purportedly due to delay during the exam, was a mala fide exercise to give “backdoor entry” to certain students. “Sixty-seven students scored 720 out of 720 marks out of which eight students were from the same centre, which creates serious doubts regarding the examination conducted by the respondents,” said the plea.

The plea claimed that a provisional answer key released by the respondent on April 29, picked the correct answers out of the choices given to the candidates, but more than 13,000 students challenged the key because the textbook contained information that pointed to a different answer.

“The medical field requires a deep and thorough understanding of scientific and medical knowledge. Cheating or using unfair means to pass exams can lead to a lack of competence, potentially endangering the health and lives of patients,” according to the plea.

The petitioners also sought a stay of the counselling to be conducted for NEET-UG 2024 admissions till the investigation into the alleged paper leak is completed. The plea sought a direction from the apex court to constitute a Special Investigation Team (SIT) to investigate the alleged malpractices in the conduct of the exam.