- By Kamal Kumar
- Sun, 21 Jul 2024 04:43 PM (IST)
- Source:JND
NEET UG 2024 SC Hearing: The Supreme Court is set to hear a bunch of petitions on the NEET UG 2024 examination later today. A bench comprising of Chief Justice DY Chandrachud, JB Pardiwaland Manoj Misra will hear clubbed pleas seeking cancellation, re-exam and a judicial probe into the alleged irregularities in the country's most important undergraduate medical entrance examination - National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET) UG 2024.
Earlier on July 18, the bench had directed the National Testing Agency to declare the centre-wise result of NEET UG by July 20. Following the announcement of the centre-wise result of the retest, a Haryana NEET centre became the centre of attention after no student could cross a score of 682, while six students topped in the earlier iteration of the exam, scoring a perfect 720 out of 720 marks.
Here's a brief timeline on NEET UG 2024 and subsequent SC hearings
1. May 5, 2024: NEET UG 2024 was held across 4,750 centres in 571 cities with over 24 lakh students participating in the exam. The NTA also conducted the prestigious medical exam at 14 centres across 12 foreign countries including UAE, Kuwait, Thailand, Sri Lanka, Qatar, Nepal, Malaysia, Nigeria, Bahrain, Oman, Saudi Arabia, and Singapore.
2. June 4, 2024: The NTA released the NEET UG 2024 result at its official website on the same day the Lok Sabha elections 2024 results were declared. Soon following the publication of NEET results, students and parents expressed discontent. A row erupted over the unannounced 'grace marks' provided to 1563 candidates as students protested this disparity. Several allegations of paper leaks and compromise of exam sanctity also surfaced.
3. June 6, 2024: NTA issued a clarification two days after the controversy hit news media. It said that those students who lost their time at the exam centre were compensated per the set mechanism. It further informed that some students had moved writ petitions to the High Courts. More importantly, the National Testing Agency declared that no compromise was found with the NEET UG 2024 examination as per CCTV footage analysis.
ALSO READ: NEET CBI Probe: Two Rajasthan MBBS Students Among 3 Fresh Arrests In Patna Paper Leak
4. June 7, 2024: The Ministry of Education formed a high-level panel to probe the issue of 'grace marks' provided to 1563 students. Meanwhile, students and parents began protesting the methods of NTA.
5. June 9, 2024: Political slugfest erupted over NEET UG 2024 exam conduct. Congress party, which saw a rejuvenation in the general elections result, launched a scathing attack on PM Modi and his government over the integrity of the NEET exam. Rahul Gandhi called his Indian partners to join in the protest on roads and in parliament.
6. June 10, 2024: Candidates Moves the Supreme Court
Two writ petitions were filed within a single day in the SC challenging the unjust 'grace marks' and seeking the cancellation of the NEET-UG 2024 result. One petitioner, a NEET UG aspirant sought a re-examination.
7. June 11, 2024: SC Chides NTA, Centre
The Supreme Court in its first hearing issued notices to NTA and the central government while noting that NEET UG 2024 'sanctity was affected'. It also clubbed over 10 petitions for future hearings.
8. June 13, 2024: NTA announces Retest For Grace Marks Holders
Rebuked by the apex court, the National Testing Agency announced a retest for the 1563 students who faced 'time loss' in the first iteration of the exam. Meanwhile, in its first response over the intense row, Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan rejected the allegations of the paper leak as baseless.
ALSO READ: NEET Paper Leak: CBI Arrests Maharashtra Man Who Claimed To Boost Marks In Exchange Of Money
9. June 18: Court Notice to NTA
The Supreme Court notified the NTA to address complaints of document leaks and misconduct in NEET UG 2024. It stressed the need to handle even minor negligence. NEET was held on May 5, 2024, with a retest on June 23. Results were released on June 4 and revised on June 30.
10. June 19, 2024: The Centre announced the cancellation of UGC NET 2024, a day after the exam was conducted. It was told that the question paper was being sold on the Darknet even before the conduct of the exam.
11. June 20, 2024: A Student's Confession Attests Paper Leak Allegations
On June 20, Anurag Yadav admitted receiving leaked NEET exam papers from his uncle, Sikandar Yadavendu, a day before the May 5 exam. Both were arrested by Bihar police in the paper leak case.
12. June 21, 2024: SC Rejects Counselling Halt Pleas
The Supreme Court rejected a petition seeking a halt on the NEET UG counselling process. NTA was notified of the fresh pleas.
13. June 22, 2024: NTA Director Replaced
In the first concrete step towards strengthening the NTA, the Education Ministry announced the departure of then NTA director Subodh Kumar, an IAS officer. A 1985 batch of Indian Administrative Services (IAS) officer Pradeep Singh Kharola was installed as the new chief of the controversy-ridden agency.
14. July 8, 2024: SC Admits Paper Leak But Asks About Its 'Extent'
The court reviewed the NEET-UG 2024 irregularity but hesitated to order a large-scale retest due to logistical and budgetary issues. Acknowledging the question paper leak, the SC asked about the beneficiaries and actions taken against them.
15: July 11, 2024: SC Adjourns Hearing
On July 11, the Supreme Court permitted extra time for the counsels of petitioners to examine the affidavit filed by the NTA and the centre. It also acknowledged the CBI's filing of a status report of its ongoing NEET UG paper leak probe.
16. July 18, 2024: Last NEET Paper Leak Hearing
On July 18, the CJI discussed two NEET UG paper leak scenarios. He enquired about exam centre changes and allocation procedures. The Supreme Court directed the NTA to release results by centre and state by July 20, 2024 and instructed Bihar police and the EOW to submit inquiry reports.
Meanwhile, the CBI's action continues in the NEET paper leak case as the agency's arrest count rose to 21. Over 6 MBBS students from premier medical institutes have been arrested for being part of the solver gang.