NEET 2024 results: Plea in Supreme Court Challenges NTA Decision of Incorrect 'Normalization Formula' by Granting Grace Marks
New Delhi: The National Testing Agency (NTA), the authority in charge of conducting the NEET UG exam, is facing yet another lawsuit as a new plea has been filed before the Supreme Court challenging the Agency's decision of granting grace marks to the National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test Undergraduate (NEET-UG) candidates this year to compensate for their loss of time during the exam.
Filing the plea before the Apex Court, the petitioner, who hails from Andhra Pradesh and is a NEET applicant, contended that the incorrect application of the 'normalization formula' of giving grace marks to 1536 candidates on the grounds of 'loss of time' is illegal, arbitrary and it violates Articles 14 and 21 of the Constitution of India.
The plea has been filed under Article 32 of the Constitution. Mr. Y. Balaji and Mr. Chirag Sharma, the counsels for the petitioners approached the Supreme Court registry for an early listing of the matter.
It has been contended by the petitioner that the 'normalization formula' could not be applied in this case as the exam aims to ascertain subject knowledge but the formula grants marks to candidate not by ascertainment but on the assumption of knowledge.
He argued that extending the 'normalization formula' is flawed where all the questions have been attempted but a candidate because if a candidate answers the questions wrong, the 'normalization formula' automatically becomes inapplicable. On the other hand, if a candidate answers the questions right, then he/she has already been granted its corresponding marks.
Also Read: Calcutta HC seeks NTA response on PIL alleging irregularities in NEET 2024 exam
The petitioner argued that at best, the 'normalization formula' can only extend to the number of questions that may be left unanswered in proportion to the loss of time, given that each question has equal mark weightage therefore equal time distribution to answer each question can be assumed.
Apart from this, the petitioner also highlighted that since the exam was conducted in an offline mode, there was "no standard to accurate;y measure the loss of time". He contended that there were no evaluations, or no reports were disclosed by the Authorities to justify the grant of grace marks in the event of alleged loss of time, Live Law has reported.
"No evaluations, reports, considerations or CCTV footages have been put out in public domain by the Respondent no. 1 that explain the alleged reason of loss of time in order to grant of compensatory marks to 1563 candidates in the examination," argued the plea.
"The examination having been conducted in offline mode cannot have a means of technical delay. Moreover, question papers presumably reach the Examination Centers well before the commencement of examination," it added.
NEET-UG is the qualifying entrance exam for admission to Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery (MBBS), Bachelor of Dental Surgery (BDS), Bachelor of Ayurveda, Medicine and Surgery (BAMS), Bachelor of Siddha Medicine and Surgery (BSMS), Bachelor of Unani Medicine and Surgery (BUMS), and Bachelor of Homeopathic Medicine and Surgery (BHMS) and BSc (H) Nursing courses. NTA released the scorecard of NEET UG 2024 on 04.06.2024.
NEET UG 2024 Results and Alleged Irregularities:
This year's NEET results shocked many as altogether 67 candidates secured the All India Rank 1 in the examination. Moreover, soon after the reports of a large number of students securing full marks i.e. 720 marks in the exam came to light, the allegations of the NEET paper leak scam started circulating on the social media platforms.
Several X users including doctors and health activists also referred to the NEET marking pattern questioning how some candidates secured 718 or 719 marks in the exam, which seems impossible considering the NEET marking scheme. According to the NEET marking scheme, every candidate is awarded 4 marks for every right answer and 1 mark is deducted for every wrong answer. Therefore, after the full marks i.e. 720, the candidates can only secure 716 marks if they leave one answer unattempted. Similarly, a candidate would get 715 marks if he/she gives one wrong answer.
Concerns were also raised regarding multiple students securing the AIR 1 rank from the same centre. When NTA tried to justify these doubts stating that several candidates were awarded grace marks to compensate for loss of time, further questions were raised. NTA was requested to furnish details about the number of students who were awarded grace marks and the rules that were applied for granting such grace marks to students.
Plea in HC & Supreme Court:
Earlier a plea was filed before the Patna HC seeking a CBI investigation into the irregularities in NEET UG 2024 results. Several pleas have been filed before the Supreme Court as well. The first plea demanded a fresh NEET-UG 2024 examination and a stay on publication of the results. While the Apex Court agreed to consider the matter, it denied granting a stay on the publication of NEET results.
In June itself two more pleas were filed in this connection. The latest of these two, the plea filed on June 9, was filed by by persons hailing from Telangana and Andhra Pradesh. The petitioners belong to SIO and claimed to work for the benefit of the students. Filing the plea, they have also sought a stay on the NEET-UG 2024 counselling until the completion of the investigation into the alleged question paper leak. They also prayed to the Court to set up a Special Investigation Team (SIT) to investigate the alleged malpractices in the conduct of the exam.
It highlighted the alleged arbitrariness of the grant of grace marks. Further referring to the fact hat several students secured 718 and 719 marks out of 720 marks, the petitioners have contended that it was "statistically impossible".
Meanwhile, while considering a plea alleging various irregularities in the NEET 2024 examination, the Calcutta High Court has ordered the National Testing Agency (NTA) to file an affidavit within 10 days in response.
Govt Constitutes Panel:
Amid this uproar, NTA informed during the Press Conference on Saturday that the Education Ministry has formed a panel to reassess the results of more than 1,600 students who received grace marks in the National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test Undergraduate (NEET-UG) 2024 exams.
A former UPSC Chairperson will chair this four-member panel and this committee will examine the potential discrepancies in the undergraduate medical entrance examination.
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