13 June
Sandeep Dhand Ludhiana
Amidst allegations of paper leak and other malpractices in NEET-UG 2024, the Centre has informed the Supreme Court that the grace marks previously awarded to 1,563 candidates due to a loss of time have been revoked. These candidates will be given an option to retake the examination on June 23, as stated by advocate Kanu Agrawal to a Vacation Bench comprising Justice Vikram Nath and Justice Sandeep Mehta.
The controversy erupted when a record 67 candidates achieved perfect scores, a significant deviation from the usual 1-2 students sharing the top rank. Further scrutiny revealed that some top rankers had consecutive roll numbers and were predominantly from the same exam centers, leading to allegations of mark inflation and paper leaks. Following these suspicions, Bihar police arrested 13 individuals last month, alleging that NEET papers were leaked to 35 aspirants prior to the exam.
The National Testing Agency (NTA) had initially granted grace marks to 1,563 students to compensate for an exam delay. However, after the NTA Grievance Redressal Committee met from June 10 to 12, it was decided to cancel these grace marks to address concerns of irregularities. Consequently, the number of top rankers has decreased from 67 to 61, as six of the affected candidates had shared the top rank.
The committee recommended that the scorecards issued to the 1,563 candidates on June 4 be cancelled and withdrawn. These candidates will be informed of their actual scores without the compensatory marks. Those who opt not to retake the exam will have their results based on their original scores from the May 5 test. The retest for those affected will be conducted on June 23, with results announced before June 30, ensuring the counselling process starting July 6 remains unaffected.
The Supreme Court, while acknowledging that the “sanctity of the examination has been affected,” did not halt the ongoing counselling process. The case, including petitions from various parties such as PhysicsWallah founder Alakh Pandey, will be further heard on July 8.