“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 in the legal document.
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.
“Scrapping the exam in entirety would seriously jeopardize the lakhs of honest candidates who attempted the question paper in 2024,” it said.
Previously, the National Board of Examinations in Medical Sciences (NBEMS) on Friday announced fresh dates for the NEET PG exam which was set to be held on June 22 but was postponed as a “precautionary measure” just 12 hours before the examination.
Earlier last month, the central government entrusted the CBI with the investigation into the irregularities in the NEET-UG case. Accordingly, the CBI registered multiple FIRs related to reported paper leaks, impersonation of candidates, and cheating.The National Testing Agency (NTA), which conducted the NEET-UG examination, is facing criticism over alleged irregularities. This prompted a series of protests across the country, with demonstrators and political parties demanding the disbandment of the NTA.The Centre and the NTA had on June 13 told the court that they had cancelled the grace marks awarded to 1,563 candidates. They were given the option to either take a re-test or forgo the compensatory marks awarded for loss of time.
The NTA announced the revised rank list on Monday after issuing the results of the re-test held on June 23.
Meanwhile, the Supreme Court is scheduled to hear on July 8 a batch of pleas alleging paper leaks and irregularities in the NEET-UG exam.
A total of 67 students had scored a perfect 720, unprecedented in the NTA’s history, with six from a Haryana centre figuring in the list, raising suspicions about irregularities in the examination held on May 5. It has been alleged that grace marks contributed to 67 students sharing the top rank.
The number of candidates sharing the top rank in the NEET-UG came down to 61 from 67 in the revised results announced by the NTA.
(with agency inputs)
