Supreme Court Petition Claims Irregularities in NEET UG 2024 Results:
Abdullah Mohammed Faiz and Dr. Shaik Roshan Mohiddin filed a petition with the Supreme Court to recall the NEET UG 2024 results and conduct a new exam. They claim several irregularities in the NEET results, arguing that the National Testing Agency (NTA) arbitrarily granted grace marks, making high scores of 718 and 719 out of 720 which is impossible. They also suspect fraudulent activity because most of the students with 720 marks were from a particular center.
Additionally, Jaripate Karthik from Andhra Pradesh filed a writ petition in the Supreme Court challenging the NTA’s decision to grant grace marks to students in this year’s NEET UG exam. He argues that the compensatory marks given to 1,536 candidates for ‘loss of time’ were arbitrary and violated Articles 14 and 21 of the Constitution.
Karthik contends that the ‘normalization formula’ was incorrectly applied, as it should not grant marks based on assumed knowledge. He also highlights the lack of public evidence, such as evaluations or CCTV footage, to justify the grace marks.
Government and Court Reactions to Allegations:
People have raised numerous concerns regarding the NTA’s preliminary answer key, released on April 29, and claims of a leaked question paper from the May 5 exam. Two petitions requested the exam’s cancellation due to the paper leak. The Supreme Court issued a notice on one petition on May 17 but did not stay the declaration of results.
Also read: Maharashtra Government Seeks NEET 2024 Cancellation Amid Allegations of Paper Leak
The NTA and the Union Education Ministry announced a four-member committee to evaluate the results of over 1,500 students who received grace marks for exam delays in response to the controversy.
Additionally, the Calcutta High Court has asked the NTA’s answer to a plea claiming irregularities. According to Tamil Nadu Health Minister Ma Subramanian, the state government intends to file a lawsuit against the NTA, asking for openness in its distribution of grace marks. Subramanian questioned the NTA’s justification for the high cutoff and grace marks, he said that this caused multiple irregularities.
Concerns Over Perfect Scores and Alleged Paper Leak:
This year’s NEET results shocked many people, as 67 students achieved perfect marks 720/720, raising rumors of a paper leak.
Questions arose about how some candidates secured 718 or 719 marks under NEET’s marking scheme, which seems impossible since the scheme awards four marks for each correct answer and deducts one mark for each wrong answer.
There were worries that more than one student may receive the top rank from the same center. More questions arose when the NTA revealed that some students received grace marks due to time loss.
Student Protests and Legal Actions Prompt Government Review:
Medical students protested against the NTA in Kanpur, Varanasi, and Lucknow. They submitted two petitions to the Supreme Court, claiming the grace marks provided certain candidates with a backdoor into the exam and asking for NEET UG 2024 re-exam.
Another petition requested a CBI inquiry into the results before the Patna High Court. In response, the Education Ministry established a panel to reevaluate the grades of over 1,500 students who received grace marks. A former UPSC chairperson will lead this four-person panel to investigate any irregularities in the NEET UG 2024 exam.
