If not Re-NEET for all, conduct Re-NEET for qualified students: Petitioners urge SC, file IA

As the Supreme Court (SC) continues to hear a batch of pleas relating to alleged irregularities in the conduct of the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test - Undergraduate (NEET-UG) 2024 exam, a few petitioners have now approached the court with an Interlocutory Application (IA) in the court, demanding a re-examination for qualified students.

Interlocutory Application is filed for a particular request in a matter that is already pending in the court.

Health activist Vivek Pandey, who has assisted a group of NEET-UG candidates to approach the Supreme Court regarding the paper leak matter, said “The court has already accepted the fact that there has been a paper leak, there have been malpractices. It has been accepted that somewhere, there has been a systematic failure. We filed an IA in the court today demanding that if re-examination is not possible for all 23 lakh candidates, then it should be done for students who qualified the exam. This exam can then be considered as preliminary and the re-exam can be considered main.”

The apex court will continue hearing pleas seeking re-examination due to an alleged paper leak in the NEET-UG exam, tomorrow, July 23.

A bench comprising CJI DY Chandrachud and Justices JB Pardiwala and Manoj Misra, today, July 22, observed that the initial statements of the accused arrested by the Bihar Police in the NEET-UG paper leak matter suggest that the paper leak happened before May 4.

“If the leak has taken place on the night of (May) 4th, then obviously the leak did not take place during the process of transportation, and it took place prior,” noted Chief Justice of India (CJI) DY Chandrachud.

The IA filed in the Supreme Court today mentions that the petitioners feel that the deliberations have strayed from the core issue.

“With the materials which have been placed on record before the Court, as also, in the public domain, there cannot be even iota of doubt anymore on the fact there has been a leak of the question paper at multiple points, besides other irregularities, and that the sanctity of the examination has been compromised. That there has been a question paper leak is nothing but an unfortunate and inconvenient truth, succinctly acknowledged by all,” the IA stated.

Advocate Mathew Nedumpara, who is representing the petitioners, said that there is no other option than to allow a re-examination since large-scale paper leaks have been identified already.

“There have been a lot of unnecessary discussions inside the courtroom for so many days. It is not rocket science, this is not a criminal trial, it is a simple issue. The integrity of the examination is in question. I can assure you that the CJI will do it, surely, because there is no other option. I am aghast that so many days have been spent on this case already,” Nedumpara said while speaking to EdexLive.