The Supreme Court has allowed the National Testing Agency (NTA) to conduct a re-test on June 23, 2024, and to cancel the scorecards of the 1,563 candidates who opt to appear for it.
On Thursday, the Supreme Court resolved petitions challenging the awarding of grace marks by the NTA in the NEET-UG 2024. The Court accepted the Centre’s recommendation to offer a re-test option to 1,563 candidates who experienced a loss of time during the May 5 examination.
A vacation bench of Justices Vikram Nath and Sandeep Mehta heard from counsel for the Centre and the NTA that students given grace marks would have the option to re-test. The Court decided not to halt the admission counselling process.
The Supreme Court permitted the NTA to conduct the re-test on June 23, stating that the scorecards of the 1,563 candidates opting for the re-test would be canceled. Those who choose not to re-test will have their original scorecards (without the grace marks) considered.
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The NTA informed the Court that the re-test results would likely be announced before June 30 to ensure the counselling process can start on July 6.
The Court also issued a notice regarding petitions alleging malpractices during the NEET exam, tagging it with petitions scheduled for July 8, including one filed by Physicswallah CEO Alakh Pandey. These petitions seek to cancel NEET-UG 2024 due to alleged question paper leaks and other malpractices.
The NTA conducted the NEET-UG exam on May 5 at 4,750 centers, with around 24 lakh candidates participating. Although results were expected on June 14, they were announced on June 4 due to the early completion of answer sheet evaluations.
Allegations of question paper leaks and the granting of grace marks to over 1,500 medical aspirants have led to protests and legal cases in several high courts and the Supreme Court. An unprecedented 67 students scored a perfect 720, with six from a center in Faridabad, Haryana, raising suspicions of irregularities. On June 10, scores of students protested in Delhi, demanding an investigation into these alleged irregularities.
The NTA administers the NEET-UG exam for admissions to MBBS, BDS, AYUSH, and other related courses in government and private institutions across India.
