Fifty-six students from Gujarat moved the Supreme Court on Wednesday to stop any decision by the Union government and the National Testing Agency to cancel the 2024 undergraduate National Eligibility-Cum-Entrance Test and reconduct the examination, amid alleged irregularities, Live Law reported.
The entrance test is conducted by the National Testing Agency for admissions to undergraduate medical courses.
The students, who were successful in the examination, have sought admissions to medical courses to continue on the basis of the current results, except for those who had adopted unfair means in the entrance test.
They contended that while action should be taken against those involved in the alleged irregularities, students who worked hard for years and passed the entrance test should not be affected.
“It would not only be unreasonable and harsh for the honest and hardworking students but also would lead to the infringement of the Right to Education and therefore violative of Article 14 [right to equality] of the Constitution,” The Hindu reported, quoting the petition.
The plea is likely to come up for hearing before the bench headed by Chief Justice DY Chandrachud on July 8, when the court is scheduled to hear a batch of petitions seeking directions in the matter, including a re-examination, The Hindu reported.
The undergraduate National Eligibility-Cum-Entrance Test was held at 4,750 centres on May 5. Around 24 lakh candidates took the test. The results were announced on June 4.
Subsequently, several aspirants alleged that an inflation of marks had led to 67 candidates securing the top rank, including six from the same examination centre. Some reports also alleged that at some centres, the question paper was leaked before the examination.
In June, the Centre told the Supreme Court that the grace marks given to 1,563 students in the examination will be cancelled. Those candidates were given the choice to either appear for a re-examination or retain their original scores, which will exclude the compensatory marks that had been given to them.
The Central Bureau of Investigation on June 22 filed a first information report on a complaint by the director of the Department of Higher Education in the Union Education Ministry.
In its complaint to the central agency, the ministry alleged that “certain isolated incidents occurred in a few states” during the entrance examination on May 5.
On June 28, the Central Bureau of Investigation arrested two persons from Jharkhand’s Hazaribagh in connection with allegations of a paper leak. The arrests came a day after it arrested two men from Bihar’s Patna in connection with the same case.
Also read:
- Will stricter laws prevent paper leaks?
- NEET fiasco puts the spotlight on the National Testing Agency and its error-ridden record
- How a messaging app that helps students prepare for exams enabled paper leaks
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