The Wire Staff 
New Delhi: Amid protests over NEET, the Union government told the Supreme Court on Thursday, June 13, that the grace or compensatory marks awarded to 1,563 candidates would stand cancelled. However, those candidates would be given an option to take a re-test, which is likely to be held on June 23.
The counsel for the Union government told a vacation Bench of Justice Vikram Nath and Justice Sandeep Mehta that the earlier scorecards of those candidates who were given grace marks would be withdrawn. However, they can avail of the opportunity to sit for a re-test. For those who do not prefer to sit for the re-test, their earlier marks minus the grace marks would be treated as their final mark.
“A committee meeting was held on June 10, 11, and 12 to investigate the allegations. Based on the committee’s recommendations, the scorecards of the affected candidates will be cancelled, and a re-examination will be held for these students,” the Centre told the Supreme Court, according to NDTV.
The Centre made its view public on Thursday during a Supreme Court hearing, where it heard petitions challenging the grace marks awarded to some students. The grace marks were awarded on the basis of a “normalisation formula” after reports surfaced that the said students were not allowed the full duration of 3.2 hours to write their exam at their respective centres. A committee constituted by the National Testing Agency (NTA), which conducts NEET, had recommended compensatory marks to the said students.
The move resulted in a widespread public outrage with it also bringing to the fore several other allegations of question paper leak, distribution of wrong question paper, torn OMR sheets, and delays in distribution of OMR sheets.
Meanwhile, the court ordered the government on Thursday not to disturb the already announced schedule of the counselling. “Counselling will proceed as scheduled and there will be no interruption. If the exam continues, everything else will proceed as well, so there is no cause for concern,” the top court said.
With the future of nearly 24 lakh students affected due to the irregularities, many have moved the courts across the country. Along with the Supreme Court, there are lawsuits in seven high courts over the issue.