Supreme Court Verdict on Re-NEET Pleas Expected Today As NEET-UG Counselling To Start On July 24

New Delhi: The Supreme Court will today resume hearing a series of petitions calling for the cancellation of the NEET UG 2024 results and a re-examination, citing allegations of paper leaks and other irregularities. The hearing comes after the Supreme Court bench, led by Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud and Justices JB Pardiwala and Manoj Mishra, directed the National Testing Agency (NTA) to publish city and centre-wise results without revealing student identities. The results were released on the NTA website on Saturday. 

The Supreme Court is likely to pass its verdict today. NTA has informed that the NEET-UG 2024 counselling is scheduled to begin on July 24. 

NEET-UG Hearing in Supreme Court Today| LIVE Updates

The Supreme Court, in its July 18 session, decided to focus on two specific instances of paper leaks in Patna and Hazaribagh. The court indicated that the decision to cancel the examination and order a retest would hinge on whether these breaches were localized or indicative of a systemic failure. The petitioners seeking the cancellation and re-test were tasked with demonstrating that the paper leak was widespread and affected the entire examination process.

According to data shared by the NTA, candidates allegedly involved in the paper leak did not perform well. However, some examination centers reported a high concentration of top scorers. Notably, performance at centers under scrutiny—Oasis School in Hazaribagh, Jharkhand; Hardayal Public School in Jhajjar, Haryana; and Jay Jalaram International School in Godhra, Gujarat—was significantly below par.

The center-wise results revealed that more than 11,000 candidates scored zero or negative marks, with the lowest score being -180 at a center in Bihar. Officials clarified that zero marks do not necessarily indicate blank answer sheets; negative marking could result from incorrect answers offsetting correct ones.

NTA Files Additional Affidavit in SC 

In response to the allegations, the NTA submitted an additional affidavit refuting claims of a conflict of interest involving the IIT-Madras director, who prepared a report the center used to deny widespread leaks and systemic failures in the NEET-UG 2024. The director, whose institute conducted the JEE Advanced 2024, is an ex-officio member of the NTA Governing Body. The NTA clarified that its core functions are managed by the Executive Committee, while the Governing Body handles only policy matters. The IIT-Madras director had nominated another professor to attend Governing Body meetings and had not participated in any NTA general body meeting since December 2022.

Over 23 lakh students took the NEET UG exam on May 5 at 4,750 centers in 571 cities, including 14 cities overseas. The NTA informed the court that the counseling process for undergraduate medical admissions is scheduled to begin on July 24.