Chief Justice D.Y. Chandrachud, along with Justices J.B. Pardiwala and Manoj Misra, presided over the hearing, addressing nearly 40 petitions concerning the NEET UG 2024. One significant issue was the reopening of the application window in April, which allowed an additional 15,085 students to apply. Petitioners argued that this action, initially intended to accommodate a single candidate per a Rajasthan High Court order, unfairly favored additional applicants, with 45 of them making it to the final selection pool.
Another focal point was the leak of the NEET UG question paper, which was reported to have occurred in Hazaribagh and spread to Patna. Petitioners highlighted lapses in security, citing instances where exam papers were transported in unsecured e-rickshaws and erroneously delivered to unauthorized locations. The NTA countered by asserting that the leak happened post-exam, challenging the timeline proposed by the petitioners.
Additionally, the NTA faced scrutiny over the unusual concentration of high-scoring candidates at specific centers. Petitioners noted that several students from the same centers achieved perfect scores, raising suspicions of systemic issues. The NTA clarified that 61 candidates obtained perfect scores, with some awarded grace marks due to disruptions at certain centers. The Solicitor General presented data showing a broad geographic distribution of top scorers, attempting to dispel claims of localized irregularities.
The Supreme Court also questioned the NTA’s failure to disclose increases in the exam syllabus for specific subjects, which contradicted the agency's claim of a reduced syllabus contributing to higher average scores. The Chief Justice highlighted the inconsistency in the NTA’s explanations and emphasized the need for transparency and accountability in the exam administration process.
In its directive, the court instructed the NTA to mask student identities in the published results to ensure anonymity and fairness. The NTA was mandated to release the center-wise and city-wise results by a specified deadline. The Supreme Court's ruling underscored the importance of maintaining integrity and reliability in national examinations, calling on the NTA to rectify the identified loopholes and prevent future discrepancies.
This judicial intervention aims to restore trust in the examination system and ensure that all candidates are evaluated fairly, based on their merits and performance. The NTA's compliance with these directives will be closely monitored, with further hearings anticipated to assess the agency's adherence to the court's mandates and the overall impact on the NEET UG 2024 examination process.