Fresh Plea before SC Seeks Scrapping of NEET 2024 Exam, Court-Monitored CBI Probe

New Delhi: A group of 20 students, who appeared in the National Eligibility-cum-Entrance test Undergraduate (NEET-UG) 2024 exam, have filed a fresh plea in the Supreme Court seeking scrapping of the undergraduate medical entrance exam this year.

They have also prayed for an apex-court-monitored probe by the CBI or any other independent agency into the alleged irregularities in the test, held on May 5, 2024.

Further, the plea filed by the medical aspirants also sought a direction to the National Testing Agency (NTA) and others to conduct the exam afresh, PTI has reported.

Medical Dialogues have been reporting about the controversies and the allegations of paper leak in the NEET UG 2024 exam. Multiple pleas have been filed before the Supreme Court, while some of the pleas were filed in connection of using unfair means in the NEET UG 2024 exam, some challenged the National Testing Agency's (NTA) decision of granting grace marks to the candidates. 

Recently, another plea was filed by a group of eight candidates claiming serious discrepancies in the NEET-UG 2024 exam and seeking a complete re-evaluation of all OMR answer sheets without the application of the grace marks formula and re-assign ranks along with other demands.

While hearing separate petitions raising grievances over the National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test (Undergraduate)-2024, the apex court on Friday sought responses from the Centre and the NTA on a plea for a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) probe into allegations of question paper leak and other irregularities in the exam.

Meanwhile, 20 candidates have moved the Supreme Court stating that in view of "rampant irregularities and fraudulent practices", re-examination would only help in short-listing deserving students to get admission to medical institutes.

The plea, drawn by advocate Dheeraj Singh, stated, "Because the sanctity of the examination is questionable in view of the confirmed cases of leakage of question paper, with respect to which FIRs have been lodged and several persons have been arrested, as per the media reports."

It said the result declared by the NTA disclosed that 67 candidates have scored the maximum possible marks 720 out of 720. A closer analysis would also reveal an extraordinary significant increase of more than 400 per cent in the number of students scoring 620-720 marks, the plea stated.

"The aforesaid material irregularities are required to be investigated thoroughly by CBI or by any other independent agency or committee under the supervision of this court so as to do justice to the large number of meritorious students whose claims have been defeated by systemic failure to ensure conduct of fair examination," it mentioned, as stated by PTI.

The plea has sought a direction to a court-appointed committee or any other independent agency to conduct "post-exam analysis including academic background check, forensic analysis and investigate all such candidates who have scored 620 and above", under the supervision of the court.

This year's NEET UG 2024 exam was mired in controversies after a paper leak scam was revealed in Bihar. Around 13 people, including four examinees and their family members, were arrested in Bihar for their alleged involvement in the paper leak of the NEET-UG exam. Patna police sources had previously claimed that the NEET-UG question papers along with their answers were provided to around 20 aspirants a day before the date of the exam i.e. May 5, 2024.