New Delhi: The Supreme Court has dismissed a plea seeking review of its August 2 verdict, refusing to allow a fresh NEET-UG 2024 examination, saying that there is no error apparent on the face of the record.
A three-judge bench led by Chief Justice of India (CJI) D Y Chandrachud and comprising justices J B Pardiwala and Manoj Misra dismissed the review plea filed by one Kajal Kumari and others. The order was passed on October 22, but it was uploaded recently on the website of the apex court.
"There is no error apparent on the face of the record. No case for review under Order XLVII Rule 1 of the Supreme Court Rules 2013 has been established. The review petition is, therefore, dismissed,” said the bench. The bench also rejected the application for listing the review petition in open court.
The apex court on August 2, declined to pass an order to conduct the NEET-UG 2024 examination afresh. The apex court said that there is no sufficient material on its record, which indicated a systemic leak or malpractice, compromising the integrity of the examination.
The apex court had said: “This court noticed that the purpose of assessing whether the sanctity of the exam has been vitiated at a systemic level was to facilitate and encourage a proportional response”.
“If it is possible to separate the tainted candidates from the untainted ones, there would be no justification to cancel the exam. This is because honest candidates would be made to suffer without reason due to the actions of some unscrupulous candidates. It is also important for the response to malpractice to be proportionate. Ordering a re-test would disrupt the academic schedule for the year”, said the CJI, who authored the August 2 order.
The bench said any such direction will have disproportionate consequences for candidates from marginalised backgrounds and they would be disadvantaged, in the event of a re-exam – neither are desirable outcomes.
