The Wire Staff 
New Delhi: Close on the heels of nationwide protests by students and parents the Supreme Court said today that the sanctity of the National Entrance-cum-Eligibility Test has been affected and that “we need answers.”
A vacation bench of Justices Vikram Nath and Ahsanuddin Amanullah issued notice to the Union government and the National Testing Agency which conducts the exam. The court, according to LiveLaw, was hearing a petition urging the cancellation of the undergraduate medical NEET this year.
There have been multiple allegations of paper leak and widespread wrongdoing surrounding the exams.
“It is not that simple that because you have done it is sacrosanct. Sanctity has been affected, so we need answers,” Justice Amanullah said, addressing the NTA’s counsel.
The bench has clubbed the current petition with an earlier one heard by the Chief Justice of India and has listed it almost a month later, on July 8. The court was concerned that the counselling process would begin soon.
For the petitioners, counsel Mathews J. Nedumpara sought a stay on counselling, which the court refused.
Ten petitioners had filed the initial plea – before the results were declared – alleging a paper leak. After the results, more petitions were filed on the NTA’s decision to award grace marks to certain candidates.