On Monday, October 21, the Supreme Court granted an additional two weeks to the high-level committee of experts formed by the Centre in response to the paper leak controversy in the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test - Undergraduate (NEET-UG) 2024 exam, allowing more time for the submission of its report.
The bench, led by Chief Justice of India (CJI) DY Chandrachud, including Justices JB Pardiwala and Manoj Misra, approved the extension after Solicitor General Tushar Mehta stated that while the report is nearly complete, some extra time is needed for its finalisation, said a report by IANS.
The Union Ministry of Education had formed the seven-member committee on June 26, chaired by K Radhakrishnan, former Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) Chairman and current Chairman of the Board of Governors at the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Kanpur, to propose recommendations for ensuring transparent, smooth, and fair exams conducted by the National Testing Agency (NTA).
The high-level committee of Experts was formed after the SC asked the Centre to detail the steps taken to ensure the sanctity of the NEET in the future.
In its detailed judgment delivered on August 2, the Supreme Court declined to order a re-test and directed the expert panel to develop a standard operating procedure (SOP) concerning the timeline for registration, changes of exam centres, sealing of OMR sheets, and other exam-related processes.
The court stipulated that the committee's report should be submitted to the Union Ministry of Education by September 30, with the ministry required to make a decision on the committee's recommendations within one month of receiving the report, added IANS.
