The Supreme Court has taken significant steps in the NEET-UG question paper leak case, seeking crucial reports from Bihar Police and ordering the National Testing Agency (NTA) to publish centre-wise results on its website.
During the hearing presided over by Chief Justice DY Chandrachud along with Justices JB Pardiwala and Manoj Misra, the Bench requested Solicitor General Tushar Mehta to provide copies of reports from Bihar Police's Economic Offences Unit (EOU). This follows a series of petitions alleging irregularities in the NEET examination and advocating for its cancellation.
Patna Police initially cracked the NEET question paper leak case on May 5, registering an FIR at Shastri Nagar Police Station. Subsequently, the investigation was handed over to Bihar Police's EOU. On June 23, the Centre decided to transfer the case to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).
In the latest development, the Supreme Court adjourned the hearing until July 22, directing the NTA to release centre-wise results on its website by noon on Saturday. The results will be published after redacting personal information, including candidates' roll numbers.
During the proceedings, the Bench emphasized the need for petitioners to demonstrate that the alleged leak had such systematic implications that necessitated cancelling the entire examination and conducting it anew. It reiterated that if tainted cases couldn't be isolated from untainted ones, the integrity of the entire examination would be compromised.
The petitioners raised concerns over data analytics conducted by IIT-Madras, arguing that anomalies couldn't be accurately determined based on curves drawn from data of 23 lakh students. They highlighted the involvement of IIT-Madras's Director in NTA's governing body.
Responding to these concerns, Solicitor General Tushar Mehta clarified that while the Director of IIT-Madras is ex-officio on NTA's governing body, someone deputized on his behalf attended meetings. He emphasized that the analytics were conducted across cities, centres, and nationwide to assess any irregularities.
Previously, the apex court had instructed NTA to fully disclose details about the nature of the paper leak, its locations, and the time lapse between the leak and the examination. It also instructed CBI to submit a status report detailing the progress of its investigation and the evidence collected.
The Centre, in its affidavit, informed the court that data analysis by IIT-Madras indicated no significant malpractice or localized benefit to candidates, attributing the increase in marks to a 25% reduction in syllabus. The Centre noted that candidates achieving high scores were distributed across various cities and centres, suggesting minimal chances of malpractice.
The Supreme Court's continued oversight underscores its commitment to ensuring fairness in the NEET-UG examination process amid ongoing investigations into alleged irregularities.
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