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The hearing regarding the National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test for Undergraduate (NEET-UG) 2024 irregularities concluded for today, Monday, July 22. The court will reconvene tomorrow to address significant discussions on the examination's irregularities.
The bench, comprising Chief Justice of India (CJI) DY Chandrachud and Justices JB Pardiwala and Manoj Misra, wrapped up the session by instructing Professor Rangan Banerjee, Director of the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Delhi, to assemble a three-member team of experts.
This team is further tasked with resolving the controversy surrounding 'question number 19' of the NEET examination.
"As regards question 19, we can appoint an expert body and ask them to give the correct option, possibly by tomorrow," the CJI had stated.
What is the 'Question number 19' in the Physics section?
Here is what question number 19 entailed:
Given below are two statements:
Statement 1: Atoms are electrically neutral as they contain equal number of positive and negative charges.
Statement 2: Atoms of each element are stable and emit their characteristic spectrum.
In the light of the above statements, choose the most appropriate answer from the options given below:
(1) Statement I is incorrect but Statement II is correct
(2) Both Statement I and Statement II are correct.
(3) Both Statement I and Statement II are incorrect.
(4) Statement I is correct but Statement II is incorrect
The question, albeit a confusing one, was a topic of controversy. The first option, regarding the electrical neutrality of atoms due to having equal numbers of protons and electrons, is universally accepted as correct.
However, the next statement, which was the point of contention, created a sense of confusion.
According to the new version of the National Council for Educational Research and Training (NCERT) books, Statement II is correct, but in the older versions, Statement I is incorrect.
The answer key released by the NTA initially overlooked this discrepancy. However, when students brought it to their attention, the NTA decided to grant marks to those who had chosen either option. Thus, this created a sense of bias as there were students who had not attempted the question due to the ambiguity.
While physicists and experts revealed that Statement I is universally accepted in Chemistry as well as Physics, for an atom to remain electrically neutral, it ought to have an equal number of electrons (negative charges) to an equal number of protons (positive charges).
Statement II, however, created confusion as not all atoms are stable by default, and can be radioactive in nature. Furthermore, atoms typically emit a characteristic spectrum when they are excited by some form of energy, such as heat or electrical energy, and then return to a lower energy state, rather than spontaneously emitting light while in a stable state. This was suggested by Niels Bohr, who based his theory on the classical model of Rutherford's. Hence, the newer version suggests that atoms are generally stable and can emit spectra under normal conditions.
As per a report by The New Indian Express, parents demanded that the NTA reconsider its answer key and align it with scientifically accurate and updated information.
What did the top court say?
In today's proceedings, a counsel for a petitioner who scored 711 marks, challenged the question with ambiguous options, stating that the ambiguity is the reason she did not attempt the question. They contended that NTA had awarded marks to the students who had chosen one of the two options that were supposedly correct. As per the petitioner, she would have been on the top if it were not for the question.
An explanation was given by the counsel that a student at the time of the exam cannot consider that there would be two correct answers and in order to avoid negative marking, the student decided to skip the question.
"I decided to not attempt because I know there is a negative marking. I have done extremely well except for this question. I am in rank 311 currently. If I am given four marks for this question, I will move up," read the counsel.
As per the counsel, the question should be deleted, citing Kanpur University vs Samir Gupta judgement, which stated that if a question is ambiguous it should be deleted. He additionally said that 44 students received a full score for the question.
CJI's decision
The CJI, after listening to the counsel, was of the opinion that having two answers to one question cannot be validated. "You could not have treated both as correct answers. You have to choose either option. Both can't co-exist."
He further deemed that over 4 lakh students may have unfairly benefited due to this, and hence, declared for an expert body to be formed and provide them with a correct explanation, by tomorrow noon, Tuesday, July 23.
The bench, therefore, as a corrective measure, dictated the following order to the Director of IIT Delhi to provide the court with a clarification:
"As indicated in the question framed of which students had to select one option as their answer. In order to resolve the issue as regards the correct answer, we are of the considered view that an expert opinion should be sought from IIT Delhi. We request the Director of IIT Delhi to constitute a team of three experts of the subject concerned. The expert team constituted by the Director is requested to formulate the opinion on the correct option and remit the opinion to the Registrar by 12 noon tomorrow."
