Supreme Court confirms NEET-UG 2024 paper leak, says cancellation of exam 'extreme last resort'

The Supreme Court on July 8 confirmed paper leak in the National Eligibility and Entrance Test (NEET)-UG 2024 examination and ordered the National Testing Agency (NTA) to fully reveal three aspects: the nature of the leak, the locations where it occurred, and the time between the leak and the exam.

"It is an admitted fact that there is a leak. The nature of the leak is what we are considering. The leak cannot be disputed. The consequences of it are what we are considering," the CJI said. The next hearing of the case is scheduled on July 11.

The apex court was hearing a group of petitions about alleged anomalies in the NEET-UG 2024 exam, as well as a request for a re-test due to allegations of paper leakage.

A three-judge bench led by Chief Justice of India (CJI) D Y Chandrachud, along with Justices J B Pardiwala and Manoj Misra, was hearing 38 petitions, as well as a separate petition filed by over 50 successful Gujarat-based candidates seeking a restraining order against the Centre and the NTA from canceling the disputed exam.

"The fact that the integrity of the examination is compromised is beyond doubt. What needs to be seen is only the extent," Justice Chandrachud said.

It said there were certain "red flags" as 67 candidates had scored 720 out of 720. "In the previous years, the proportion was very low," the bench noted.

On the demand for a re-test, the court said, “We don't live in an ideal world, but before deciding on a re-test, we keep in mind that we are dealing with 23 lakh students. We want to know more details of the entire process, the kind of FIRs, how the leak spread, and what steps the Center and NTA took to identify wrongdoers. Anyone who violates the exam has no right to be there. We also seek clarity on the government's course of action.”

The CJI asked the NTA to reveal the procedures taken so far to identify the centers or cities where the leak occurred, the techniques used to identify them, and the number of students who have been identified as beneficiaries.

"Let us not deny reality. Given the exam's prominence, he calls for a multidisciplinary committee rather than just one chaired by the government. The questions focus on improving exam security to prevent future leaks and identifying beneficiaries if the entire exam is not cancelled," he said.

The top court asked the NTA about the timeframe for when the questions were produced and turned over to the NTA, where they were stored, and when they were delivered to the lockers. The court also questioned the printing press used and the transportation arrangements made to distribute the papers.

The bench observed if the sanctity of NEET-UG 2024 is "lost" and if the leak of its question paper propagated through social media, then a re-test has to be ordered.

The court said that if the question paper leak was taking place through Telegram, WhatsApp and electronic means, then "it spreads like wildfire".

"If the sanctity of the exam is lost, then a re-test has to be ordered. If we are unable to identify those who are guilty, then a re-test has to be ordered," the bench said.

"Let us not be in self-denial about what happened," it said, adding, “Assuming that the government does not cancel the exam, what will it do to identify the beneficiaries of the question paper leak?”

The SC sought information on the custody of the papers following printing, the time between printing and distribution, and if the papers were returned to Delhi. The NTA promises to give a detailed chart for all the questions.

The court also announced the appointment of a nodal counsel for issues and asked the Center to distribute an extensive schedule of dates. Petitioners asked the court to obtain a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) report on the direction of the investigation into the six FIRs.

The bench posted the matter for next hearing scheduled on July 11 and directed the investigating officer of the CBI, which is conducting probe into the allegations of malpractices, OMR sheet manipulation, impersonation and cheating, to submit a report which would include the status of probe.

"We are also of the view that since an investigation has been entrusted to the CBI, a status report must be filed by the Investigating Officer (IO) indicating the status of the investigation up to date and evidence that has come to light," said CJI Chandrachud.

The court also questioned if data analytics may help identify students with high NEET scores but low Class 12 scores, or those who thrive in one area but struggle in another, as these could be possible red flags. The goal is to understand the patterns in NEET scores.

The CJI has advised data analysis to uncover red flags during the conduct of NEET UG 2024. Not all of the 67 toppers are fraudsters; some of them may be exceptionally bright. But we should see a sudden increase in the numbers. The court asked, "How can students suddenly change exam cities?" and asked to see if the student had scored exceptionally well in one subject.

CJI Chandrachud directed the NTA, the government, and CBI to submit an affidavit on record by 5 pm on July 10 and forward it to the petitioners' counsel as well.

"We will give you one day. We want all petitioners' lawyers who have requested a re-test to provide us with a single set of documents on Wednesday, July 10. We want you all to sit down and provide us with one consolidated set of submissions no more than 10 pages,' added CJI.

Previously, the government and the NTA advised the Supreme Court that canceling the exam would be "counterproductive" and "seriously jeopardize" lakhs of honest candidates in the absence of any evidence of a large-scale breach of confidentiality.

In its affidavit filed with the Supreme Court on July 4, the Ministry of Education solely acknowledged "instances of irregularities, cheating, impersonation, and malpractices" during the administration of the NEET UG exam.

However, there is no indication of any paper leaks. It goes on to claim that "in the absence of any proof of any large-scale breach of confidentiality in a pan-India examination, it would not be rational to scrap the entire examination.".

The NEET-UG 2024 examination was held on May 5 by NTA across hundreds of centers in India for admissions to MBBS, BDS, AYUSH and other related courses in government and private institutions. The results were released unexpectedly soon on June 4, ten days ahead of schedule, with 67 toppers this year.

The counseling, which was scheduled to start on July 6, has been postponed until further notice.