New Delhi: The Supreme Court closed the case related to the manner in which the NEET-UG exam was conducted last year by the National Testing Agency (NTA). The Supreme Court was hearing a case related to the mismanagement of the NEET 2024 exam. The government accepted the reforms suggested by the expert panel constituted by the Hon’ble Supreme Court to examine the matter, except for the reform in which it suggested an online mode of examination.
Justices P S Narasimha and Joymalya Bagchi closed the petition after reviewing the Centre’s report and hearing arguments of Solicitor General Tushar Mehta.
The government assured the court that it would follow the suggestions of the expert committee to improve the examination process. Based on this, the court decided to dismiss the case.
Solicitor General Tushar Mehta told the Supreme Court that the Centre has accepted all the suggestions of the NEET reform panel, except for conducting the exam online. He said that since more than 26 lakh students take NEET, it will take time to set up internet and computers. He confirmed that the panel’s report has been approved and there is nothing left in the case, so it can be closed.
The Supreme Court said that after looking at all the submissions and updates, no further directions are needed now. On August 2 last year, the court had rejected the request to cancel NEET-UG 2024. It had clearly stated that there is no concrete evidence of large-scale cheating or paper leak that could affect the fairness of the exam.
The court also gave more responsibilities to the seven-member expert panel headed by former ISRO chief Dr. K. Radhakrishnan. This committee will closely review the way the National Testing Agency (NTA) works and suggest changes. Its goal is to ensure that the NEET-UG exam is conducted fairly and transparently without any possibility of malpractice.
Supreme Court Responds to NEET-UG 2024 Controversy
The panel comprised Dr K Radhakrishnan along with Randeep Guleria, BJ Rao, Ramamurthy K, Pankaj Bansal, Aditya Mittal and Govind Jaiswal. The Supreme Court asked the committee to focus on exam security, proper planning, data protection and the use of new technology. The court also said that apart from the topics given by the Centre and NTA, the team should take suggestions from students and experts, work with international groups, support the mental health of students and provide good training to NTA staff.
Over 23 lakh students have applied for NEET-UG 2024 to seek admission to MBBS, BDS, AYUSH and other related courses.
In November last year, the Supreme Court had rejected a request to review its earlier August 2 verdict in which it had refused to allow re-examination for NEET-UG 2024.
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