NEET 2024 Row: Delhi HC seeks response from NTA over plea alleging 'Out of Syllabus' question
New Delhi: A plea has been filed before the Delhi High Court alleging that the National Testing Agency (NTA) put 'out of syllabus' question in the National Eligibility-and-Entrance Test Undergraduate (NEET UG) 2024 examination.
Agreeing to consider the petition, the Delhi High Court has sought to know the stand of NTA, the agency in charge of conducting the NEET UG examination.
The vacation bench of the High Court comprising granted two weeks’ time to the counsel appearing for the authorities — Centre, NTA and National Medical Commission, to file their response to the petition.
"Learned counsels for respondents No.1 to 3 are present on advance notice and a request is made to grant time to file a short affidavit. Let the same be filed within two weeks from today," said the bench in the order passed on June 24.
Filing the plea, the petitioner claimed that one question in the physics section was based on 'radioactivity' when 'radioactivity topic' was not a part of the syllabus for this year's NEET-UG, PTI has reported.
Also Read: No Urgency: Supreme Court declines to Implead CBI, ED in NEET Paper Leak Case
The petitioner also alleged a "manifest error" concerning another question for which NTA declared the "incorrect option" as the right answer. He further claimed that although he was a "successful candidate", his overall ranking has been adversely affected due to the errors committed by the NTA.
"It is submitted that irregularities in competitive exams and that too where the examination is being held for preparing a host of future doctors, clearly deserves to be appreciated with utmost seriousness as it not only perpetuates inequalities by favouring the undeserving but while disadvantaging those in whose hands the health of the people of nations will rest in years to come," stated the plea filed through lawyer Sameer Kumar.
The matter has been listed for further hearing on July 16, 2024.
This year's NEET UG 2024 exam was mired in controversies after a paper leak scam came to the light. Medical Dialogues had earlier reported that 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.
Then, the Economic Offences Unit (EOU) of Bihar Police, which took over the investigation, revealed that the brokers involved in the NEET paper leak scam took between Rs 30 lakh to Rs 50 lakh from each of the medical aspirants in exchange for giving them the question paper of the NEET UG 2024 question paper ahead of the examination.
Multiple pleas have been filed before the High Courts and the Supreme Court seeking an investigation into the alleged paper leak scam. Some of the pleas demanded the scrapping of the NEET UG 2024 exam and holding a retest. Meanwhile, during the case proceedings, NTA earlier decided to withdraw the grace marks awarded to 1563 candidates and hold an optional retest for those candidates. Those who did not opt for the retest were allowed to retain their original marks, without the grace marks.
The matter is now being investigated by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI). Central Government on June 22, 2024, handed over the charge of investigation in the alleged irregularities in the NEET UG 2024 examination to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).
"Certain cases of alleged irregularities / cheating / impersonation / malpractices have been reported. For transparency on the conduct of the examination process, the Ministry of Education, Government of India after a review has decided to entrust the matter to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) for comprehensive investigation," the Ministry of Education stated in a release.
