The Centre informed the Supreme Court today that 1,563 students who took the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test Undergraduate 2024 (NEET-UG 2024) will have their grace marks canceled and will be given the option to retake the exam.
Following this decision, the court ruled that a re-exam will be conducted for these students.
“A subsequent Committee has made recommendations after deliberations which are placed before us. According to recommendation, scorecards of 1563 candidates will be cancelled and stand withdrawn. A re-exam will be conducted for these 1563 candidates. The results of those who don’t wish to appear will be based on their actual marks without compensatory marks,” the Vacation Bench comprising Justices Vikram Nath and Sandeep Mehta said.
“For those who appear for re-test, the May 5 scores will be discarded,” the court added.
The National Testing Agency (NTA) confirmed that details about the re-test will be announced soon and it is expected to take place on June 23. The results of the re-exam are targeted to be released before June 30 to ensure that the scheduled counselling on July 6 remains unaffected.
Meanwhile, Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan stressed that the government is treating this issue seriously and will take action against those responsible for the NEET results discrepancies.
Petitioner Alakh Pandey, CEO of Physics Wallah, highlighted concerns about trust in the NTA, stating, "Today, NTA accepted in front of the Supreme Court that the grace marks given to the students were wrong and they agree that this created dissatisfaction among the students and they agreed that they will remove the grace marks. Re-examination of those 1,563 students who got grace marks will be done on 23rd June or the original score without grace marks would be accepted by the students. NTA agreed in front of the SC that the grace marks they awarded were wrong. The question is if the NTA has other discrepancies that we are unaware of. So, there is a trust issue with NTA. The issue of paper leak is open and hearing on that will continue."
Responding to queries about the NTA's role, Minister Pradhan noted that the NTA was established following a previous Supreme Court directive.
The apex court had earlier issued a notice to the NTA in response to a plea from ten NEET candidates seeking a retest due to alleged paper leaks and irregularities. Despite this, the court declined to postpone counselling for qualified candidates seeking admission to MBBS, BDS, and other programs.
NEET-UG 2024, which took place on May 5 with approximately 24 lakh students participating, saw results announced on June 4, earlier than the anticipated date of June 14. Concerns were raised when 67 individuals, including six from the same or nearby test centers, achieved a perfect score of 720 marks.
