No retest of NEET-UG exam, no indication of systemic breach: SC

The Supreme Court on Tuesday held that ordering a retest of the entire NEET-UG examination would "not be justified" although it held that "it is not in dispute" that the question paper was leaked at the examination centres in Hazaribagh, other Jharkhand towns and Patna.

The reason: From the material available on record and preliminary investigation by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) "there is absence of material sufficient to reach the conclusion that the sanctity of the entire examination stands vitiated," it ruled.

A bench, headed by Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud, ruled that the material available on record is "not indicative of the fact that there is systemic breach" of the examination.

Refusing to order a retest, the court factored in the result furnished by the National Testing Agency (NTA). The CJI said that "to obviate controversy" the bench has "independently scrutinised" data produced by NTA.

"The data produced on record city wise, centre wise and comparison is not indicative of a systemic leak of the question paper which would indicate that the sanctity of the examination was compromised," he added.

The bench will pronounce its detailed judgement later, the CJI said. "In a matter like the present, it is imperative that the final conclusion of the court be recorded in the present stage since there is an urgent need to provide certainty and finality to the dispute which affects the careers of over two million students. The reasons for the ultimate conclusion will follow later," the order reads. The CJI said that the "disclosures" made by the CBI to the top court reveal that a total of 155 students were beneficiaries of wrongdoing (paper leak). The said 155 students were from centres at Hazaribagh and Patna. The CBI had submitted three status reports to the top court in a sealed cover on July 10, July 17 and July 21.

The SC also did not alter the seven-member committee constituted by the government to ensure that the examination process is made more "robust and insulant to any kind of malpractice" in future. The committee is headed by former chairman of ISRO, K Radhakrishnan. However, the bench ordered that the committee "will abide by the directions in the final judgement with regard to areas to ensure the process of conducting the NEET-UG and other examinations is strengthened" so that systemic flaws are "not repeated in future".