Supreme Court rules against NEET-UG 2024 re-exam, says no 'systemic breach'

The Supreme Court ruled on July 23 that there won't be a retest for the National Eligibility Cum Entrance Test Undergraduate (NEET-UG) 2024 exam, citing a lack of evidence to support a "systemic breach" or that the "sanctity" of the test had been compromised in light of two localized question paper leaks.

Although the court acknowledged that the question paper leak was "not in dispute," it stated that there is currently insufficient evidence in the file to draw the conclusion that "the exam's result was vitiated or that there was a systemic breach in the exam's sanctity."

"Data on record is not indicative of a systemic leak of the question paper, which would lead to the destruction of the sanctity of the exam," the court said.

The court was hearing a bunch of petitions demanding either the re-examination or the cancelation of NEET-UG 2024.

The bench, presided over by Chief Justice DY Chandrachud, said that there would be "big consequences" if 23.33 lakh prospective medical students were ordered to retake the exam. Many of them would have to travel hundreds of kilometers from their hometowns to the exam centers.

"The court is mindful of the fact that directing a fresh exam would have serious consequences on students, including destruction of admission schedule, effects on education, and impact on availability of medical professionals in the future," said CJI Chandrachud.

A "serious disadvantage to marginalized students" was another conclusion made by the court.

The Chief Justice said that the court informed petitioners requesting a retest that it would be their "last option" in an interim ruling earlier this month.

The court said that circumstances—specifically a limited time lag between the leak and exam—would argue against a re-test. "If students were asked to memorize (leaked questions) on the morning of the exam, leak might not be widespread."

The court did, however, also imply that "sanctity" of the exam had been compromised. "It's evident that some questions were leaked. The exam's sanctity was violated," the court said.

The Chief Justice acknowledged an unavoidable fact: at least two exam centers, in Patna of Bihar and Hazaribagh of Jharkhand, had their question papers leaked.

The CBI has designated the Hazaribagh leak as "Ground Zero" and is entrusted with looking into a nationwide "solver gang" scam that releases question papers. Since then, the agency has made a number of arrests, one of which was of the alleged kingpin, Rakesh Ranjan, also known as Rocky.

In previous hearings, the court was told that question papers were available on social media, including well-known messaging apps like Telegram, at least 24 hours before the test.

The CBI filed reports on July 17 and July 21, according to which at least 155 students from centers in Hazaribagh and Patna appeared to be beneficiaries. The court also referred to these findings.

The potential of segregation—that is, identifying students who benefited from the paper leak and disqualifying them from the admissions process—had been explored by the court earlier.

All of these disputes, court challenges, and protests have discouraged many medical aspirants who have worked tirelessly to get admission to medical colleges and achieve their dream of becoming successful doctors.

But now, some of them have lost faith in the system and the government and have decided to study medicine abroad. One such candidate is Sanna from Rajasthan.

While talking to the Reuters, Sanna said, “For more than four years, I had the same daily routine—wake up at dawn, study up to 14 hours a day, eat, and sleep—all in an effort to crack a tough exam to get into one of India's premier public medical colleges.”

However, after two unsuccessful attempts of less than 500 marks, she has lost hope that she can win a highly sought-after spot, especially after the national entrance exam was hit last month by allegations of irregularities, including paper leaks.

"I have zero trust in this system. What's the sense of working when others may get ahead through unfair means? I don't have the patience, time, or money to pursue a medical education in India," she said.

Sanna prefers to study abroad in China, Russia, or Kazakhstan, which are becoming increasingly attractive destinations for Indian students who are battling with the high expenditures of exam preparation and tuition in India.

For middle-class students like Sanna who cannot afford private tuition, programs in nearby countries provide a more affordable choice. "At least that will get me some return on my investments," said Sanna, whose parents spent more than Rs five lakh on her exam preparation.

According to academic experts, despite decades of growing economic expansion, India has been slow to alter its higher education system, in which prospective medical and engineering students spend months, if not years, preparing for extremely competitive admission examinations that frequently leave them exhausted and in debt.

"The system is fundamentally flawed. It is neither fair, just, or relevant," said Anita Rampal, a former dean at Delhi University and member of the India Academic Freedom Network, New Delhi.

"It takes so much out of you in terms of your motivation, effort, money, family resources, and sense of being," Anita said. Students might pay substantial sums of money to attend preparation centers and purchase course materials. However, very few students manage to get a medical seat in the government college.

According to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs data, more than 750,000 Indians studied abroad in 2022, nearly doubling the number from 2018.

However, academic counseling websites report that approximately 25,000 students depart each year to study medicine in countries such as Russia, China, the Philippines, Kyrgyzstan, and Kazakhstan.

When the results of the May 5, 2024 NEET-UG exam were released last month, a controversy surrounding the exam surfaced. Concerns were expressed about the 67 flawless scores, citing a teaching facility in Bahadurgarh, Haryana, that produced six of them on its own.

Questions were raised concerning 1,563 students being awarded "grace marks."

There was a retest for those 1,563, but hundreds of applicants did not show up, and many of those who did received far lower scores. Among those who received only 682 this time were candidates from the Haryana center, who previously scored a perfect 720.