New Delhi: The Supreme Court has commenced its hearing pleas related to the controversy-ridden National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (Undergraduate) or NEET-UG. The bench led by Chief Justice D Y Chandrachud, also comprising justices J B Pardiwala and Manoj Misra said the issue has 'social ramifications'.
"The Court said that it will open the case today and that lakhs of young students are waiting for this, let us hear and decide," CJI said.
Chandrachud told the petitioners to show that the paper leak was systemic and it has affected the entire examination which would warrant cancellation of the exam.
Centre informed the apex court that "there are 131 students who are not falling within 1 lakh eight thousand, who want a re-test. And, there are 254 who are falling within 1 lakh eight thousand, who are opposing the re-test." The submission came when the top court wanted to know the number of students demanding a re-test and those against it.
CJI wanted to know the cut-off mark for the 56,000 government seats. "What is the cut-off mark for the 56,000 (government seats) and the 1 lakh eight thousand?" He asked.
"If we accept your wider submission, we would like your assistance on which are the lines on which the investigation must happen," the CJI told senior advocate Narender Hooda, counsel for petitioners.
Hooda said that he has a handicap that the NTA has not declared the entire results and sought that the NTA should have declared the results of the one lakh people who would get admission.
Chandrachud also wanted to know how many seats were available in government medical colleges.
The counsel said the total number of seats including the government colleges is one lakh eight thousand. "If re-examination is ordered, the total number is one lakh eight thousand and not twenty-three lakhs," Hooda said, adding that segregation of the untainted is not possible.
"Conceptually, if you can establish that, then the whole exam will go," the CJI said.
Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, representing the Centre, submitted before the court that 131 students outside the 108,000 seat limit are requesting a re-examination, while 254 students within the limit oppose it. Senior advocate Sanjay Hegde said that some of the students are within the 108,000, and they are also seeking government seats.
The petitioners’ counsel contested IIT Madras' assertion and vehemently argued that irregularities occurred during the exam. Senior advocate Narender Hooda, appearing for one of the petitioners, submitted that the IIT Madras report cannot be relied upon.
Mehta clarified that the IIT Madras director who prepared the report is not a member of the National Testing Agency (NTA). Hooda said that the IIT Madras analytics based on 23 lakh students’ performance is not reliable and that the analytics should have been done on the basis of 1 lakh eight thousand candidates who will get admissions.
Hooda said that there is a conflict of interest since the IIT Madras Director is a member of the governing body of NTA. Mehta said that it was factually wrong and he was just an ex-official member of NTA and had appointed someone else on his behalf.
The petitioners’ counsel questioned the transparency and completeness of the data presented by NTA during the NEET-UG proceedings in the court.
The counsel argued that the entire country was given a question paper from SBI but in Hardayal school, in Haryana, paper came from Canara bank. He said that the principal said that the instruction was to let the students do Canara bank paper and they gave grace marks to everyone in the school. The hearing is in progress.
