The Centre has filed an affidavit before the Supreme Court asserting that NEET-UG 2024 need not be re-conducted in the absence of any proof of large-scale irregularities in the examination.
Scrapping the exam entirely would “seriously jeopardise” the lakhs of honest candidates who attempted NEET-UG 2024 questions, the Union Ministry of Education said in its affidavit.
“It is also submitted that at the same time, in the absence of any proof of any large-scale breach of confidentiality in a pan-India examination, it would not be rational to scrap the entire examination and the results already declared,” the Centre said.
The Union government also informed the court that it has asked the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) to conduct comprehensive probe into entire gamut of alleged irregularities.
NEET-UG is conducted by the National Testing Agency (NTA) for admissions to MBBS, BDS, AYUSH and other related courses in government and private institutions.
Read: NEET PG 2024 new exam date released, test to be conducted on August 11
The integrity of the NEET-UG examination has come under scrutiny due to allegations of paper leaks and other irregularities, prompting widespread protests and political friction.
On June 11, the Supreme Court, while hearing a plea to hold the exam afresh, noted concerns about the sanctity of NEET-UG and demanded responses from the Centre and the NTA.
However, the court refused to stay the counselling of the successful candidates.
Read: NEET-UG case: CBI arrests key conspirator from Jharkhand’s Dhanbad
Chief Justice DY Chandrachud is scheduled to hear a batch of petitions on July 8, which seek various forms of relief, including a re-test and a thorough investigation into the alleged malpractices.
On Thursday, over 50 successful Gujarat-based NEET-UG candidates moved the top court seeking a direction to restrain the Centre and the NTA from cancelling the controversy-ridden exam.
The fresh plea of Sidhharth Komal Singla and 55 other students was filed through lawyer Devendra Singh.
It said, “The Hon’ble court may further direct the respondents (Centre and the NTA) not to re-conduct NEET-UG … as that would not only be unreasonable and harsh for the honest and hardworking students but also would lead to the infringement of the Right to Education and therefore violative of Article 14 (right to equality) of the Constitution.”
Read: CBI arrests co-conspirator in NEET-UG paper leak probe from Dhanbad
With the government postponing the NEET-PG examination and cancelling the UGC-NET, competitive exams in India have come under scrutiny over alleged irregularities.
The CBI has made six arrests so far in the NEET-UG paper leak case.
