New Delhi:

Doubling down on its ‘no leak’ stand in the massive row surrounding the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET), the National Testing Agency has told the Supreme Court that no question paper was found to be missing and no locks were broken in Patna.

This is significant because allegations of a paper leak in the all-India entrance exam for medical education aspirants first emerged from the Bihar capital. The CBI, which is investigating alleged irregularities in the exam, has arrested eight people in the Bihar case.

In its affidavit filed in Supreme Court, the NTA has said that reports of the City coordinator, Centre Superintendent(s) and observers concerned were examined.

“No question paper was found missing in any Trunk. Each question paper has a unique serial number and was assigned to a particular candidate. No locks were found broken. The reports from NTA Observers did not report anything adverse. The CCTV coverage in the Command Centre were constantly monitored. No untoward incident or any pointer to paper leakage was observed,” it said.

The NTA’s response comes after the Supreme Court’s remark that it is clear that a leak has taken place. “One thing is clear that leak of question paper has taken place,” a bench of Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud, Justice J B Pardiwala and Justice Manoj Misra said Monday. “If the sanctity of the exam is lost, then a re-test has to be ordered. If we are unable to identify those who are guilty, then a re-test has to be ordered,” the bench said. The court has said that the extent of the leak and the beneficiaries have to be identified before the court may order a re-test that will potentially affect lakhs of students.

The testing agency has also responded to the alleged paper leak in Rajasthan’s Sawai Madhopur.

“NTA came to know from social media on the day of exam itself around 4:30 PM that an incident has occurred at one Exam Centre in Sawai Madhopur, Rajasthan, where a wrong medium of Question Paper was distributed, and some candidates protested and left the centre without giving the exam along with the question paper.”

“Thereafter, a picture of the question paper was circulated on the social media alleging be a paper leak. In fact, there could not be leak caused by such an incident and the same was clarified immediately,” the NTA has said.

“It is further clarified that the access to the centres was regulated and no Internet and mobile connectivity was possible during the actual conduct of the examination due to installation of jammers and control over usage of electronic devices thereby eliminating all scope of any adverse impact of such an incident,” it said, adding that the retest at the centre was conducted smoothly the same day.

The NTA’s emphasis that no paper leaked comes after the Centre told the Supreme Court yesterday there was neither any indication of “mass malpractice” nor a localised set of candidates being benefited.

It said the data analytics of results of NEET-UG 2024 was conducted by IIT Madras and as per the findings given by the experts, the marks distribution follows the bell-shaped curve that is witnessed in any large-scale examination indicating no abnormality.

New Delhi:

The Supreme Court on Monday advised caution to a clutch of petitioners demanding a re-test of the May 5 NEET-UG exam, the results of which were released last month and have been affected by leaked question papers and the award of ‘grace marks’, or preferential marking, for 1,563 students.

The court said certain circumstances – specifically “(if) the time lag between the leak and actual exam is limited” – would argue against a re-test. “If students were asked to memorise (the leaked questions) on the morning of the exam then the leak might not have been so widespread…”

The three-judge bench led by Chief Justice DY Chandrachud said it therefore was loathe to order a re-test for nearly 24 lakh students – many of whom come from poor families and could ill-afford to spend money travelling to exam centres – unless necessary. A re-test is the “last option”, it said.

“One thing is clear… questions were leaked. The sanctity of the exam has been compromised… this is beyond doubt. Now we have to establish the extent of the leak,” the Chief Justice said, “We have to be careful while ordering a re-test. We are dealing with the careers of lakhs of students.”

“You don’t cancel an exam only because two students cheated. We must be careful…”

The Supreme Court said a re-test could only be ordered if there was sufficient time (the court did not specify how much this should be) between the leak of the questions and conduct of the exam.

“If time lag was too long then there needs to be a re-test… or, if we can’t identify candidates who are guilty of wrongdoing, then a retest has to be ordered,” the Supreme Court said.

On the subject of the time lag, the court also sought details about the printing of the question papers. And, in a humorous aside, also reminded the NTA to not reveal details about the process.

Therefore, instead of ordering an immediate re-test the court advised the constitution of a multi-disciplinary panel to probe this issue, which is already being investigated by the CBI and the police.

The court also rapped the government for being in “denial” and said it should be “ruthless” in dealing with candidates who paid for the leaked exam and those who supplied the question paper.

“Let us not be in self-denial about what happened…” the bench, also including Justice JB Pardiwala and Manoj Misra, said, adding, “Assuming we do not cancel, what will the government do to identify the beneficiaries? You have to be ruthless… bring some sense of confidence to the process.”

Earlier the court had been told question papers were available on social media, including popular messaging apps like Telegram, at least 24 hours before the exam was to begin. It acknowledged this point and said that if questions had been so leaked, it could have “spread like wildfire”.

Controversy over the NEET-UG exam broke last month after results were declared.

The first red flags were the unusually high number of perfect scores; a record 67 students, including six from one coaching centre, scored a maximum 720. Questions were also asked over the award of ‘grace marks’ – not exam protocol, the NTA said – to 1,563 students.

The NEET exam – held annually for admission to undergraduate medical courses – were conducted on May 5. Controversy over the exam – which nearly 24 lakh students took – broke last month after results were announced. The first red flags were the unusually high number of perfect scores; a record 67 students, including six from one coaching centre, scored a maximum 720. Questions were also asked over the award of ‘grace marks’ – not exam protocol, the NTA said – to 1,563 students.