Supreme Court Orders IIT Delhi Director to Form Expert Panel to Review Disputed NEET Question
New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Monday (July 22) has directed the director of the Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi (IIT Delhi) to constitute a three-member expert committee to review a disputed Physics question from the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET) UG 2024 examination.
The apex court bench headed by Chief Justice D.Y. Chandrachud was informed that the contentious question had multiple correct answers, prompting the National Testing Agency (NTA) to award grace marks to some students as a solution. The court has ordered expert opinions on the matter to be presented by Tuesday (July 23), 12 noon, The Hindu reported.
"You could not have treated both as correct answers. You have to choose either option. Both can't co-exist," Chief Justice Chandrachud was quoted as saying by Live Law.
When the court was informed that the provisional answer key gave the correct answer, but later the NTA changed its stance and decided to give marks for the second option as well. The bench said: "What is worrying us is that, over four lakh students have got the benefit of what you have done."
The Supreme Court made the observations while hearing petitions seeking cancellation of the NEET UG 2024 exam due to alleged paper leaks and malpractices. Besides, Chandrachud the bench comprising of Justices J.B. Pardiwala and Manoj Misra considered arguments from both sides, with the NTA and central government opposing cancellation.
The Centre and the NTA argue that canceling the exam would harm lakhs of honest candidates, as there is no evidence of widespread confidentiality breaches.
The court had earlier directed the NTA to publish center-wise results to identify potential anomalies. After releasing the data, it emerged that 22% of candidates from the Delhi Public School (DPS) center in Rewari, Haryana, scored over 600 marks, raising suspicions of cheating.
Chief Justice Chandrachud acknowledged that the paper leak happened before May 4, citing evidence that students were asked to memorise questions on the evening of May 4, Live Law reported. The CBI is currently investigating the paper leak cases that allegedly happened in Patna and Hazaribagh in Bihar.
The court will hear the matter next on Tuesday (July 23).
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