Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan on Friday said that the Centre stood "vindicated" hours after the Supreme Court's detailed judgement noted no systematic breach of the sanctity of the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET) Undergraduate medical entrance exam.
In a post on X, Pradhan wrote in Hindi, "The clouds of falsehood can hide the sun of truth for some time, but truth always prevails."
"Hon’ble Supreme Court’s observation on no systemic breach of sanctity in NEET-UG exam and therefore no re-exam vindicates the stand of the govt. The govt. stands committed to “Tamper-free, Transparent & Zero-error examination system. For ensuring the same we shall implement recommendations of the high-level committee of experts, at the earliest once they are submitted," the Education Minister added.
He went on to say, "The findings and the verdict outrightly rejects the propaganda that was being peddled. We whole-heartedly thank Hon’ble Supreme Court for delivering justice and protecting the interests of lakhs of hardworking students. We shall implement Hon’ble Supreme Court’s judgement in letter and spirit.”
Notably, the Supreme Court bench consisting of Chief Justice DY Chandrachud and justices JB Pardiwala and Manoj Misra stated that the National Testing Agency (NTA) must stop its inconsistent actions this year as they do not benefit students.
"We did not cancel the NEET-UG examination because there was no systemic breach of the exam’s sanctity beyond Hazaribagh and Patna," the bench observed.
Several directions were issued by the court and the mandate of the Centre-appointed panel led by former ISRO chief K Radhakrishnan was expanded to review the NTA’s functioning and suggest exam reforms. The top court said the panel, with its expanded mandate, should submit its report by September 30, detailing measures to address deficiencies in the examination system.
According to reports, the bench suggested that the Radhakrishnan panel consider creating a standard operating procedure for adopting technological advancements to improve the exam system. Further, the court also noted that the issues arising during the NEET-UG exam should be addressed by the Centre.
On July 23, the Supreme Court dismissed petitions calling for the exam's cancellation and a re-test, stating that there was insufficient evidence to prove any systemic breach that compromised its integrity.