NEET UG 2024 Result Controversy: Supreme Court to hear petitions challenging results over alleged irregularities

NEET SC Hearing

The Supreme Court is set to weigh in on the controversy surrounding the NEET UG 2024 results today, on June 13. Three petitions challenging the fairness of the exam will be heard, raising concerns about alleged irregularities in the awarding of grace marks.

As per reports, the petitions will be heard by a vacation bench comprising Justices Vikram Nath and Sandeep Mehta.

The petitions go beyond seeking a retest. They also request a stay on counselling, which could significantly impact the medical school aspirations of thousands of students.

Alakh Pandey, CEO of Physics Wallah is one of the petitioners. He argues that the National Testing Agency's (NTA) decision to award "loss of time" grace marks to over 1500 students was "arbitrary" and lacked transparency.

In the second petition, filed by Students Islamic Organisation (SIO) members Abdullah Mohammed Faiz and Dr. Shaik Roshan Mohiddin, throws serious doubt on the exam's integrity.

The SIO alleges a systematic issue with the awarding of grace marks. They point to impossibly high scores of 718 and 719 out of 720 achieved by some students, suggesting the "loss of time" compensation system might be flawed. The petitioners also raised suspicions regarding the fact that 67 students from one particular centre obtained full 720 marks.

The third petition is filed by Jaripiti Kartheek, a student who took the NEET exam. Kartheek argues that the National Testing Agency's (NTA) "normalization formula" for awarding these marks is flawed. Since each question carries the same weightage, he contends that any time lost should only translate to a proportional number of unanswered questions, not additional marks. In simpler terms, if a student loses time, they will miss questions, but shouldn't be awarded extra marks for the missed time itself.

While these petitions focus on alleged irregularities in awarding grace marks, a separate petition filed before the results holds great importance. This petition, seeking a complete cancellation of the exam due to a suspected paper leak, received a notice from the Supreme Court on June 11. The Court acknowledged a potential breach in exam sanctity and demanded a response from the National Testing Agency (NTA) by July 8. However, the court allowed counselling to proceed despite the ongoing investigation.

The NTA, along with the Union Education Ministry, announced a committee review on June 8. This committee will specifically examine the results of over 1,500 students who received "loss of time" grace marks.