NEET Paper Leak case update: CBI arrests man from Maharashtra who claimed marks manipulation for money
Mumbai: In the latest update on the NEET paper leak case, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) recently arrested a man from Maharashtra's Latur. The man has been identified as Nanjune Dhppa who used to claim to increase the marks of the students by taking money from students.
The agency has made several arrests from Bihar, Gujarat and Jharkhand in connection with the NEET UG Paper leak row.
Yesterday, the Supreme Court said that there is no doubt that the NEET-UG held on May 5 was compromised by a question paper leak and asked the National Testing Agency (NTA) to apprise it about the steps taken to identify the candidates who were benefited from the paper leak.
Also Read:NEET paper leak case update: CBI Arrests Co-Conspirator From Jharkhand
A bench of Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud and Justices JB Pardiwala and Manoj Misra also asked NTA to inform about the steps taken by it to identify the centres/cities where leak of paper took place and modalities followed to identify beneficiaries of the leak and how the leak was disseminated.
Saying that the fact of the paper leak in the NEET-UG exam cannot be denied, the bench observed that it has to be ascertained if the nature of the leak was widespread or isolated to decide on ordering a re-test.
"The fact that the sanctity of exam has been compromised is beyond doubt. It is an admitted fact that there is a leak and the nature of the leak is something that we are determining. If it is not extensive then there is no cancellation. But before we order a retest, we must be conscious of the extent of the leak as we are dealing with 23 lakh students...," said the bench.
"So what is the nature of the leak, how was the leak, the time, how was the leak disseminated, what are the actions which Centre and NTA has taken to identify the beneficiary students of the wrongdoing," said the CJI.
Read Also: No doubt NEET PAPER LEAK took place, Sanctity Was Compromised: Supreme Court
The apex court also said that if the leak was on social media, then it would have been very widespread.
It asked the testing agency, NTA, when the paper leak first took place, the manner in which the question papers leaked were disseminated, and the time duration between the occurrence of the leak and the exam on May 5.
The apex court also sought a status report from the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on the probe it has made so far into the alleged paper leak and material which has come to light till date.
The apex court said it will have to be scrutinised whether an alleged breach has taken place at the systemic level, whether the breach has affected the integrity of the entire exam process, and whether it's possible to segregate beneficiaries of fraud from untainted students.
In a situation where a breach affects the entirety of the process and it's not possible to segregate beneficiaries from others, it may be necessary to order a re-test, it said.
Where the breach is confined to specific centres and it's possible to identify beneficiaries of wrongdoing, it may not be proper to order re-test such an exam, which has been conducted on massive scale, it added.
The top court asked CBI to file a status report and Centre and NTA their affidavits with all the details by 5 pm on July 10. The case will be heard next on July 11.
The apex court was hearing a batch of pleas seeking direction to recall NEET-UG 2024 results and to conduct the examination afresh, alleging paper leakage and malpractices in the test held.
Aspirants had approached the top court and raised the issue of leakage of question paper, awarding compensatory marks and anomaly in the question of NEET-UG.
NEET Controversy:
This year's NEET UG 2024 exam was mired in controversies after a paper leak scam came to 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 investigating in the alleged irregularities in the NEET UG 2024 examination to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).
Earlier, while considering the NEET-related pleas, the Supreme Court had refused to defer the counselling/seat allotment process scheduled to commence on July 6. However, the bench had orally observed that the admissions would be subject to the final outcome of the petitions and if the exams were set aside, the counselling would get invalidated consequentially.
The Top Court had also expressed its concern over the alleged discrepancies in the NEET UG 2024 exam. The Court had noted that even '0.001& negligence' in conducting the NEET-UG 2024 exams would be looked into with all seriousness considering the immense labor put in by the candidates for the prestigious examination.
