Supreme Court Decides NEET-UG 2024 Will Not Be Cancelled Despite Paper Leak
The Supreme Court of India has decided not to cancel the NEET-UG 2024 exam held on May 5, despite acknowledging a paper leak in Hazaribagh and Patna. The court, led by Chief Justice DY Chandrachud, stated that there was no systemic breach affecting the exam’s overall integrity.
A bench including Justices JB Pardiwala and Manoj Misra noted that the data did not indicate a widespread leak of the NEET-UG question paper. However, the court acknowledged that 155 students from Hazaribagh and Patna benefited from the leak, as per the ongoing CBI investigation.
The court emphasized that ordering a re-exam would have serious consequences for over 23 lakh students who took the exam, disrupting the academic schedule and causing a cascading effect in the coming years. The decision came in response to pleas seeking to recall the NEET-UG 2024 results and conduct a fresh examination due to alleged malpractices.
NEET-UG, conducted by the National Testing Agency (NTA), is the entrance exam for admissions into MBBS, BDS, AYUSH, and other related courses in government and private institutions across India. The 2024 exam was held across 4,750 centers with around 24 lakh candidates appearing.
Doubts Revealed
Supreme Court -: The Supreme Court is the highest court in India. It makes important decisions about laws and justice in the country.
NEET-UG -: NEET-UG stands for National Eligibility cum Entrance Test for Undergraduates. It is an exam that students take to get into medical colleges in India.
Paper Leak -: A paper leak means that the exam questions were shared with some people before the exam took place. This is unfair because it gives some students an advantage.
Hazaribagh and Patna -: Hazaribagh and Patna are cities in India. Hazaribagh is in the state of Jharkhand, and Patna is the capital of Bihar.
Chief Justice DY Chandrachud -: Chief Justice DY Chandrachud is the head judge of the Supreme Court of India. He leads the court in making important legal decisions.
Systemic Breach -: A systemic breach means a big problem that affects the whole system. In this case, it means a problem that would affect the entire exam process.
CBI -: CBI stands for Central Bureau of Investigation. It is a top agency in India that investigates serious crimes and frauds.
155 students involved in the fraud -: This means that 155 students were found to be part of the cheating or paper leak. They got the exam questions before the test.
23 lakh students -: 23 lakh means 2.3 million. This is the number of students who took the NEET-UG exam.
