As the NEET-UG controversy continues to brew, both NTA and CBI have put forth their arguments and reports to give a sense of what might have happened to cast doubt over the future of over 24 lakh students.
The Central Bureau of Investigation said that the NEET-UG question paper was first leaked in Jharkhand’s Hazaribagh, after which they found their way to Bihar. It is important to note that it was first believed that the question papers were first leaked in Bihar, which prompted several arrests in the state.
An investigation by the CBI also revealed that the case of paper leaks also has strong links to one of the most prominent schools in Jharkhand. There is also evidence of a “solver gang’s” involvement in the leak.
Meanwhile, the Supreme Court has scheduled a further hearing of the NEET controversy on July 18.
In its previous hearing, the apex court said a re-test may be ordered if the entirety of the process is affected and sought details from the National Testing Agency and the CBI including the timing and manner of the paper leak, besides the numbers of wrongdoers, to know the extent of its effect.
“Let us not be in self-denial. Self-denial is only adding to the problem,” a bench headed by Chief Justice D Y Chandrachud told the Centre and the NTA, which conducts the prestigious test, in a string of strongly-worded observations.
What else did the CBI probe reveal?
Explaining the chain of events that led to the paper leak, a CBI official said:
What has the NTA said?
The National Testing Agency, on the other hand, has told the Supreme Court that there is no evidence that question papers went missing. The Supreme Court is currently hearing the NEET controversy case.
In its affidavit to the apex court, NTA said, “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 was constantly monitored. No untoward incident or any pointer to paper leakage was observed.”
Data analysis finds no mass malpractices
Meanwhile, a data analysis of the NEET-UG results by the Indian Institute of Technology Madras shows “that there is neither any indication of mass malpractice nor a localised set of candidates being benefitted leading to abnormal scores.”
“IIT-Madras was also requested to ascertain through data analytics if there are any suspected cases who could have indulged in wrongdoing and other red flags which indicate any aberration in the spread of top performers/ candidates. A set of parameters, which shall form the basis of the analytics, was also requested to be devised,” the Department of Higher Education said in its affidavit.
It added, “An exhaustive and elaborate technical evaluation of the data pertaining to the NEET-UG 2024 examination was carried out by IIT-Madras, using parameters like marks distribution, city-wise and centre-wise rank distribution and candidates spread over marks range.”
With inputs from agencies
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Not Bihar, CBI reveals NEET paper leaked first from THIS state
