Supreme Court Declines Ex-Parte CBI Probe Into NEET (UG) 2024 Paper Leak

On Friday, the Supreme Court dismissed a plea for an ex-parte CBI investigation into alleged paper leaks and irregularities in the NEET (UG) 2024 examination.

Case Overview:

The vacation bench, headed by Justice Vikram Nath and also comprising Justice Sandeep Mehta, refused the request, questioning the feasibility of ordering such an investigation without hearing all parties involved.

During the hearing, the bench instructed the National Testing Agency (NTA) to respond to fresh petitions seeking a CBI or SIT probe within two weeks.

It also rejected a plea to compel the Bihar Police to submit a status report on their investigation into the alleged paper leak before the next hearing date.

“We have given them (NTA and others) two weeks’ time to file their response. They will come up with their response,” the apex court stated, emphasizing the importance of allowing all parties to present their arguments.

The court has scheduled further hearing on 8 July for the batch of petitions, which includes demands for exam cancellation.

Previously, the Supreme Court had declined to stay the admission counseling process for medical programs based on the NEET (UG) 2024 results.

In a related development, the Supreme Court addressed the issue of granting grace marks in the NEET (UG) exam.

Following the submission of scorecards by the NTA, the apex court decided to close the matter concerning compensatory marks awarded to 1,563 candidates due to loss of time during the exam.

These candidates now have the option to either participate in a re-test scheduled for June 23 or proceed with counseling based on their actual exam scores without normalization.

Acknowledging the NTA’s assurance that the counseling schedule would remain unaffected, the Supreme Court noted that results from the re-test would be declared by 30 June.

Also Read: Supreme Court Issues Notice On NTA’s Plea To Transfer NEET (UG) Paper Leak Case