"Will Rahul Gandhi apologise?"

Former union minister Ravi Shankar Prasad asked this question today, July 24, a day after the Supreme Court rejected re-exam petitions for the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test - Undergraduate (NEET-UG) over paper leak allegations.

The BJP leader went on to state that Rahul Gandhi, who is the Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha, has defamed India's examination system with his choice of words. He also stated that the words used by the Congress leader were violative of Parliament's dignity and also of the office he holds.

The former union minister stated that apart from the candidature of 155 examinees being cancelled, the probe regarding paper leaks in NEET UG was being handled directly by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).

He stressed the examination is conducted on a large scale — with over 23.5 lakh students taking it at 4,750 centres across 571 cities.

Though Gandhi used words like "fraud" to attack the NEET UG exam, the court has made it clear that there was no no systemic breach in the sanctity of the test, he pointed out.

The Narendra Modi government enacted a strong law against paper leak incidents, the former minister noted.