The Union Ministry of Education on Friday told the Supreme Court that it would be irrational to scrap the entire 2024 undergraduate National Eligibility-Cum-Entrance Test in the absence of any proof of a large-scale breach of confidentiality, Bar and Bench reported.
The entrance test is conducted by the National Testing Agency for admissions to undergraduate medical courses. After the results of this year’s examination were announced on June 4, allegations of question paper leaks and other irregularities came to light.
A Supreme Court bench headed by Chief Justice DY Chandrachud is scheduled to hear a batch of petitions seeking directions in the matter, including on the question of a re-examination, on July 8.
In an affidavit submitted in the court on Friday, the ministry said that in “any examination, there are competing rights that have been created whereby the interests of a large number of students who have taken the examination without adopting any alleged unfair means must not also be jeopardised”.
The ministry added: “Union of India in a matter such as the present one, has adopted a solution-oriented approach”.
The affidavit submitted on Friday came two days after 56 students from Gujarat moved the court to stop any move to conduct a re-examination.
The students contended that while action should be taken against those involved in the alleged irregularities, candidates who worked hard for years and passed the entrance test should not be made to suffer.
The undergraduate National Eligibility-Cum-Entrance Test was held at 4,750 centres on May 5. Around 24 lakh candidates took the test.
After the results were announced on June 4, 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 would 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 Ministry of Education.
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.
Revised dates for NEET-PG announced
On Friday, the revised dates for the 2024 National Eligibility-Cum-Entrance Test for admissions to postgraduate medical courses were announced. The exam was cancelled last month in the light of the allegations regarding the integrity of other competitive examinations.
The test, which is conducted by the National Board of Examinations in Medical Sciences, will now be held on August 11 in two shifts. It was scheduled for June 23.
On June 22, the Union Health Ministry cancelled the examination and said that the action was taken “in the best interests of the students and to maintain the sanctity of the examination process”.
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