New Delhi:

NEET-UG exam results are to be published in their entirety by noon Saturday, the Supreme Court told the National Testing Agency – which is under-fire over allegations of leaked question papers and violation of marking protocol – on Thursday afternoon.

The full results are to be published on the NTA’s website. However, the identities of the students will be masked, the court instructed the NTA.

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.

New Delhi:

Following the paper leak controversy around the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET) for medical undergraduates and the cancellation of UGC-NET due to “lack of integrity,” Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan said that the discussion must happen within tradition and decorum.

“The government is ready for every kind of discussion, but everything should happen within tradition and decorum. When the President herself spoke about the exam in her speech yesterday, it showed the government’s intention that we are ready to face any issue… The government’s responsibility is towards the youth of the country, towards the students of the country… The government is ready to put forth its side, then what is the confusion? … We are going to take the strictest action and the CBI is going to catch everyone, we will not spare anyone. A credible high-level committee has also been formed for reform, soon the date of all those exams will also be announced. I also request the opposition to come out of politics and join the discussion,” said Dharmendra Pradhan.

“We are not going to spare anyone. Those who were in charge of NTA have been removed and the responsibility has been given to senior officials. All this is proof of the government’s commitment… I want to appeal to the opposition that they should not confuse the students…” he added.

The opposition however is adamant on its demand to enforce a discussion on the alleged irregularities in the NEET examination.

Rajya Sabha LoP and Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge said, “Under Rule 267 we are demanding a special discussion on it in the House, and after that, we will state our demands.”

Congress MP Deepender Singh Hooda said, “The future of the youth has been spoiled due to the continuous paper leaks in the country. The maximum number of paper leak cases have been seen in Haryana. The paper was leaked in the NEET exam and the Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan is running away from responsibility. We had brought up a discussion on this and when it was raised in the House, the mike was switched off. If the mike of the Leader of the Opposition is switched off, then there will be anger among other opposition MPs and the same happened in the House. We demand that this issue be discussed.”

Notably, for the NEET-UG and UGC-NET exams, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on June 23 registered a criminal case over the alleged irregularities in the conduct of the examination by the NTA and formed special teams to probe the matter.

As per the agency’s FIR, certain “isolated incidents” occurred in a few states during the conduct of the NEET (UG) 2024 examination, which was held on May 5, 2024.

The NEET (UG) 2024 Examination was conducted by the National Testing Agency (NTA) on May 5, 2024, at 4,750 centres in 571 cities, including 14 cities abroad, with over 23 lakh candidates appearing for the examination.

An unprecedented 67 candidates achieved a perfect score of 720 marks out of 720, which led to widespread protests in the country.

The Ministry of Education said it has constituted a high-level committee of experts to make recommendations on reforms in the mechanism of the examination process, improvements in data security protocols, and the functioning of the NTA.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

Godhara, Gujarat:

 A CBI team investigating the NEET-UG malpractices case on Thursday recorded statements of three candidates who had allegedly paid an accused for helping them clear the medical entrance test held at a private school near Godhra in Gujarat.

Besides the three candidates and their parents, the investigators were also questioning Dixit Patel, owner of the local Jay Jalaram School, at the Godhra circuit house, an official said.

A Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) team has been camping in Gujarat for the last four days to probe alleged malpractice during the National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test held on May 5.

The school run by Dixit Patel was one of the exam centres.

The team had on Wednesday visited two private schools in Gujarat’s Kheda and Panchmahal districts as part of its probe. CBI officials first visited Jay Jalaram International School on Sevaliya-Balasinor highway in Kheda district, and later the Jay Jalaram School at Godhra in Panchmahal district.

Both the schools, located 100 km apart, are owned by Patel.

A case was registered by Godhra Police on May 8 against three persons under various Indian Penal Code provisions including criminal conspiracy, cheating and criminal breach of trust for allegedly trying to help 27 candidates clear the NEET-UG by charging Rs 10 lakh each.

On June 23, the CBI filed a fresh FIR (first information report) against unidentified persons under IPC sections 120-B (criminal conspiracy) and 420 (cheating), among others, amid countrywide protests and litigation by students for a probe into paper leak claims.

The CBI has taken over the investigation of five new cases of alleged malpractices in NEET-UG being probed by police in Gujarat, Rajasthan and Bihar.

The Gujarat police had arrested five persons, including the principal and a teacher of a school in Godhra, in these cases.

The racket was unearthed after the Panchmahal district collector received a tip-off that some persons were involved in malpractices linked to the exam, as per the FIR registered on May 8 by the Godhra police.

Since the tip-off was received in advance, authorities prevented malpractices at the centre (Jay Jalaram School in Godhra) and the exam was conducted without a hitch, the FIR said.

Physics teacher Tushar Bhatt, school principal Parshottam Sharma, Vadodara-based education consultant Parsuram Roy, his aide Vibhor Anand and alleged middleman Arif Vohra were arrested by police.

As per the FIR registered at the Godhra taluka police station on a complaint of the district education officer, Rs 7 lakh in cash were recovered from Bhatt who taught at Jay Jalaram School and was appointed the deputy centre superintendent for NEET in the city.

Out of 27 students who had either paid in advance or agreed to pay money to Roy and others, only three were able to clear the exam, according to sources.

The accused had asked the candidates to solve a question if they knew the answer, and leave the remaining paper blank. The answers of remaining questions were be filled in by Bhatt when the papers were collected after the exam, as per the FIR.

More than 24 lakh students appeared for the NEET UG 2024 across centres in 571 cities. Results were released on June 4.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

Patna:

Bihar Deputy Chief Minister Samrat Chaudhary on Thursday asserted that the state government would bring in a stringent law to curb exam paper leaks, even as the CBI made its first arrest in the NEET-UG row, taking two people in custody from Patna.

The new law will be passed by the assembly in the upcoming monsoon session of the state legislature, Mr Chaudhary said.

“Following the direction of Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, the state government is going to introduce a stringent law to check cases of question paper leaks in Bihar,” he told PTI.

The monsoon session of the Bihar assembly and state legislative council will be held from July 22 to July 26, spanning five sittings.

“The central government has already notified the Public Examinations (Prevention of Unfair Means) Act, 2024, which aims to prevent unfair means in public examinations and common entrance tests held across the country. Now, the Bihar government has also decided to bring a law, which will curb paper leaks and malpractices in recruitment examinations,” the deputy CM said.

On the CBI probe into the NEET-UG paper leaks, he said, “The investigation is underway… no one will be spared.” The arrested accused were produced before a special court in Patna on Thursday, which sent them to judicial custody, officials said, adding the CBI will now seek the duo’s remand to quiz them.

The eastern state was also recently rocked by the Bihar Public Service Commission’s Teachers Recruitment Exam (TRE)-3 paper leak case.

Meanwhile, mystery surrounded the whereabouts of an alleged solver gang member, a student of AIIMS-Jodhpur, who had appeared for another candidate at a NEET-UG exam centre in Bihar’s Muzaffarpur district on May 5, sources said.

He was caught during biometric attendance at the centre minutes before the test, but was allegedly allowed to go after submitting a written apology to the authorities, they said.

“A team of police officers recently visited the house of the accused in Jodhpur and met his family members. But, he was not there. The officers also visited AIIMS-Jodhpur… but officials there had no information about his whereabouts. We have served notices to his family members as well as the institute’s administration,” Awadhesh Dixit, SP (City), told PTI.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala:

BJP leader Rajeev Chandrasekhar on Sunday said that it is disappointing that students have been disadvantaged, adding that the government has taken good steps on the NEET UG exam issue.

“It is disappointing that students have been disadvantaged. But as Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan has said the government is committed to making sure that these examinations are done in a secure manner and those who are meritorious are the ones who benefit from these exams, not those who are corrupt and crooked. I think the steps that have been taken by the government of India are good and solid steps that will give a lot of confidence to the students,” Mr Chandrasekhar told ANI.

The National Testing Agency (NTA), which conducted the NEET-UG exams, is facing criticism over alleged irregularities in the exams. This resulted in several protests across the country, with protestors and political parties demanding to disband the NTA.

An unprecedented 67 candidates achieved a perfect score of 720 marks out of 720, which added to the concerns.

The Ministry of Education said it has constituted a high-level committee of experts to make recommendations on reforms in the mechanism of the examination process, improvements in data security protocols and the functioning of the NTA.

The 7-member committee, led by ISRO former chairman Dr K. Radhakrishnan, will submit its report to the ministry in the next two months.

“In order to ensure transparent, smooth and fair conduct of examinations through the National Testing Agency (NTA), the Department of Higher Education, Ministry of Education constituted a High-Level Committee of Experts to make recommendations on reform in the mechanism of examination process improvement in data security protocols and the structure and functioning of National Testing Agency,” the ministry said.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

New Delhi:

The question paper for the UGC-NET exam that was held Tuesday was leaked 48 hours earlier and sold on the dark web and encrypted social media platforms for Rs 6 lakh, sources in the Central Bureau of Investigation told NDTV. The NET exam had been voided by the Education Ministry – already taking flak over the NEET-UG test – that cited input from a federal anti-cybercrime unit.

Sources said the source of the leak, however, is unclear at this time. The agency will work with the NTA or the National Testing Agency, which is the central body that conducts competitive exams.

The role of coaching centres – in which thousands of aspirants enrol, at great cost, in hope of cracking exams like NET, NEET, and the civil service entrance tests – in several states is also being investigated, sources said, explaining CBI officers could visit a few in person.

The CBI filed its first FIR, or first information report, in this case on Thursday, in which it accused as yet unidentified persons based on the ministry’s complaint. The ministry had said information indicates “prima facie that the integrity of the examination may have been compromised”.

On Thursday, hours after the UGC-NET was voided – sources said the authorities believed a large-scale corruption racket is behind the leaked papers. Given this concerns, sources said officials charged with the exam’s conduct, including those who set question papers, would be probed.

The officials likely to be investigated range from academics who set the papers and those who evaluate answers to officials who edited, or checked, the papers. Sources said two to three sets of each question paper had been prepared.

The role of officials who print each paper will be examined, as will that of those who take the printed documents to examination centres. The role of the latter will be scrutinised, as this person has access to all question papers.

After the exam was scrapped, students protested on university campuses across the country, claiming they had flagged paper leaks last week, days before the exam, but no action was taken.

Students at Lucknow University said at least one paper had been leaked and was available for just Rs 5,000. This, they said, had been circulated via WhatsApp and Telegram groups from June 16.

UGC-NET refers to the University Grants Commission’ National Eligibility Test – a qualifying exam for appointments to professorial posts in colleges and universities, as well as fellowships.

Over 11 lakh students had registered for the exam.