New Delhi:

The National Testing Agency (NTA) in its written submission to the Supreme Court last night, reiterated that there has been no systematic failure concerning the NEET UG examination controversy. The response comes amid allegations of unprecedented high marks among top candidates, prompting concerns about potential fraud and systemic issues within the exam’s administration.

The NTA categorically denied the allegations, stating: “The allegations of the Petitioners that there has been a systemic failure as candidates have obtained unprecedented higher marks only in the top range of mark interval are misconceived and thus denied.”

The NTA acknowledged specific incidents under investigation, particularly in Bihar. These incidents, described as “criminal activities”, are being probed by law enforcement agencies. Initially investigated by the Bihar Police, the case was handed over to the Economic Offenses Unit (EOU) and has since been transferred to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) for further investigation at the central level.

As part of its immediate response, the NTA has withheld the results of 17 candidates suspected of being involved in fraudulent activities. These candidates were issued show-cause notices, pending the outcome of the investigation. 

Petitioners claimed that drastic inflation in NEET (UG) 2024 scores resulted from widespread fraud, including paper leaks, OMR tampering, and misuse of compensatory marks. The NTA refuted these claims, attributing the increased scores to a 22-25 per cent reduction in the syllabus and a 15 per cent rise in the number of candidates.

The NTA argued that the increase in marks was consistent across most ranges and did not significantly affect the relative performance of candidates. 

A Supreme Court bench comprising Chief Justice DY Chandrachud and justices JB Pardiwala and Manoj Misra will today hear more than 40 pleas, including those filed by the NTA, seeking transfer of cases pending against it in various high courts on the NEET-UG row to the Supreme Court to avoid multiplicity of litigations.

The petitions seek the cancellation of the exam, a re-test, and an investigation into alleged malpractices during NEET-UG 2024. The bench has already received a status report from the CBI on the progress of the probe into these irregularities.

New Delhi:

An alleged kingpin of a paper leak in Jammu and Kashmir is being probed by the Enforcement Directorate to see if he has links to the irregularities in the NEET-UG and UGC-NET exams. Yatin Yadav, the alleged mastermind of the 2022 JKSSB sub-inspector recruitment exam paper leak was arrested by the Enforcement Directorate or ED today as part of a money laundering case.

According to the ED sources, it is being investigated whether Yadav has any connection to the paper leak cases of the key examinations that have hit headlines recently.

The ED probe stems from a CBI First Information Report and chargesheet against Yadav, a suspected tout, and some others. The ED sources claimed that being the “kingpin” of the alleged paper leak gang, Yadav executed a well-crafted plan involving other accused touts based in Haryana and Jammu and Kashmir to arrange candidates willing to access the leaked paper against payments ranging from Rs 15 lakh to Rs 30 lakh.

The Jammu and Kashmir Service Selection Board (JKSSB) sub-inspector recruitment exam was held on March 27, 2022.

After the exam, the payments – mainly in cash – collected from the aspirants were routed to Yadav’s bank accounts, they said.

The ED had earlier attached Yadav’s bank accounts, a company called New Global Fumigation Corporation and assets of some others worth Rs 1 crore under the provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) as part of its probe.

The arrest comes at a time when allegations of irregularities in the conduct of the National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test-Undergraduate (NEET-UG) and the University Grants Commission-National Eligibility Test (UGC-NET) have rocked the country, leading to the Centre handing over their investigation to the CBI.

The CBI is looking into the allegations of malpractice in both exams conducted by the National Testing Agency.

The Centre on Saturday replaced NTA Director General Subodh Singh and handed over the probe into irregularities in NEET-UG to the CBI, which is now probing a total of six cases in the matter. Pradeep Singh Kharola took the additional charge of NTA on Monday and had meetings with officials of the testing body.

The Education Ministry had also set up a seven-member panel headed by former ISRO chief K Radhakrishnan to review the NTA’s functioning.

Under fire for the irregularities in NEET and the cancellation of the UGC-NET exam, Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan has said that a high-level committee will be formed and that the interest of the students is the first priority of the government. 

Over 30 lakh candidates appeared for the exams, both of which were conducted by the National Testing Agency (NTA), and the minister’s comments came on a day when students held protests in various parts of the country, including outside Mr Pradhan’s home in Delhi. Some were also detained. 

Addressing a press conference on Thursday, Mr Pradhan said in Hindi, “I want to assure everyone that the government is committed to ensuring the interests of students. We will not compromise with that or with transparency. As far as the NEET exams are concerned, we are in constant touch with the Bihar government and the Patna Police will send us a detailed report soon. As per preliminary information, errors are limited to certain regions.”

The Bihar reference was to reports of NEET papers being leaked there.