The Supreme Court on Thursday cleared the way for the National Testing Agency (NTA) to declare the results of the NEET-UG 2021 examination by staying a Bombay High Court decision to conduct fresh exams for two aspirants.
The High Court had passed the order on a plea by the two students that they were handed question papers and answer sheets with different serial numbers in the examination.
A Bench led by Justice L. Nageswara Rao froze the High Court order, allowing the NEET results to be declared. The Bench said it would consider the case of the two students, including what could be done for them, in detail later.
A bench comprising Justices L Nageswara Rao, Sanjiv Khanna and BR Gavai issued notice on the special leave petition filed by the National Testing Agency against the High Court’s order. However, the bench said that it will see what is to be done for the two students, who were prejudiced due to the mix up of the answer sheets done by the invigilator of the exam hall. The bench however said that let the results be declared, and added that it will examine the two students’ grievance in detail later.
On Monday, the Solicitor General had sought urgent listing of the petition saying that the declaration of the NEET-UG results were getting delayed due to the High Court’s order.
The petitioners have alleged that they were handed over question papers and answer sheets with different serial numbers in the undergraduate medical entrance exam.
On October 20, the Bombay High Court directed the NTA, exam conducting body for the National Eligibility Entrance Test (NEET) UG, to hold fresh exams for the two students. They also told NTA to declare their results along with the main results of the test conducted on September 12.
The Supreme Court has now served notice on the National Testing Agency. The case will now be heard again on November 12th. The undergraduate medical admission test has been dogged with scandal this year. The Central Bureau of Investigation had previously detained organizations that allegedly assisted students in answering test papers. Some medical students had petitioned the Supreme Court, requesting that it order the National Testing Agency to cancel and reschedule the exam since it had not been conducted reasonably previously.
However, the Supreme Court denied their plea, stating that because lakhs of students took the exam, the results could not be revoked due to few FIRs. Another recent event is that the Kerala High Court has ordered the NTA to investigate the suspected tampering of a candidate’s Optical Mark Recognition (OMR) sheet.
One of the students answered 130 questions, while the other one attempted 160 questions. “They have scored good marks but also, total 6 students were there who faced the same problem,” Solicitor General Tushar Mehta told the Supreme Court bench of Justices LN Rao, Sanjiv Khanna and BR Gavai.
“[The] other four did not have a problem. How come only two had a problem and could not finish the paper? Four Students attempted 200 questions. But these two petitioners attempted only 130 questions?” Justice LN Rao asked.
“The other four students did not realize the mistake made by authorities. These two students did and they knew that even if they fill the answers it will be judged wrongly,” the lawyer for the petitioners told the Supreme Court.
“We’ll issue notice and stay the HC Judgement…you announce the results. There are 16 lakh students who are eagerly waiting for the results. We will see what we can do for these 2 students,” the Supreme Court Bench said.
The SC has now issued notice to the National Testing Agency. The matter will be heard next on November 12.
This year, the undergraduate medical entrance exam has been surrounded by controversy.
The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) had earlier arrested groups who allegedly helped students to solve question papers. Some medical aspirants had moved the top court seeking its direction to the National Testing Agency to cancel and conduct the exam again as it was not held in a fair manner earlier.
The Supreme Court, however, dismissed their petition saying lakhs of students have appeared in the exam and results cannot be cancelled because of some FIRs.
In another recent development, the Kerala High Court has directed the NTA to probe into the alleged manipulation in the Optical Mark Recognition (OMR) sheet of a candidate in the state.
