The Centre on Friday filed an affidavit before the Supreme Court saying that it would not be rational to scrap NEET-UG 2024 in the absence of any proof of large-scale breach of confidentiality in the examination.
“Scrapping the exam in its entirety would ‘seriously jeopardise’ the lakhs of honest candidates who attempted the question paper in 2024,” the Centre told the top court.
The affidavit, filed by Ministry of Education, comes on a clutch of petitions in Supreme Court by students, their wards, coaching centres and the public demanding cancellation of the exam.
According to a News 9 report, the affidavit ironically also accepts that after conducting the exam there were instances of irregularities/cheating/impersonation and malpractices and the government has asked the CBI to conduct a comprehensive probe into the entire gamut of alleged irregularities.
“It is also submitted that at the same time, in the absence of any proof of any large-scale breach of confidentiality in a pan-India examination, it would not be rational to scrap the entire examination and the results already declared,” the Centre said.
It added that in any examination, there are competing rights that are created whereby the interests of a large number of students who have taken the examination without adopting any unfair means must not also be jeopardised.
The top court is scheduled to hear on July 8 a batch of pleas, including those alleging irregularities in the examination held on May 5 and seeking a direction that it be held afresh.
Allegations of irregularities, including paper leaks, have led to protests in several cities and sparring between rival political parties.
With inputs from agencies
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Scrapping NEET 2024 will ‘seriously jeopardise’ interest of honest candidates, Centre tells SC
