No sign of mass malpractice in NEET-UG, govt tells top court

Satya Prakash

New Delhi, July 10

Citing a technical analysis of NEET-2024 data carried out by experts from IIT Madras, the Centre on Wednesday told the Supreme Court that there was no indication of mass malpractice or local set of candidates being benefitted.

In an affidavit filed on the eve of hearing before a Bench led by CJI DY Chandrachud on petitions seeking scrapping of NEET-UG 2024 over alleged paper leak and other malpractices, the Union Ministry of Education filed an additional affidavit asserting that there was “very less likelihood of mass malpractice”.

Centre cites analysis by IIT Madras

The analysis (by IIT Madras) shows there is neither any indication of mass malpractice nor a localised set of candidates being benefitted. There is an overall rise in marks… attributed to 25% cut in syllabus. —Centre

Citing the results of the analysis done by experts of IIT Madras, the Centre said, “The analysis shows that there is neither any indication of mass malpractice nor a localised set of candidates being benefitted leading to abnormal scores.”

It said, “There is an overall increase in the marks obtained by students, specifically in the range of 550 to 720. This increase is seen across the cities and centres. This is attributed to 25 per cent reduction in syllabus. In addition, candidates obtaining such high marks are spread across multiple cities and multiple centres, indicating very less likelihood of mass malpractice.” Asking the Centre not to be in self-denial, the Supreme Court had on Monday highlighted several “red flags” in the examination held on May 5 and made it clear that it would order a retest, “if it’s found that sanctity of the examination has been breached”.

“One thing which is very clear is that the leak has taken place… That the sanctity of the exam has been breached is beyond doubt. The question is how widespread is the leak,” it had said.

The top court had, however, said, “Before we decide to order a retest, we must understand what is the nature of (paper) leak… is it widespread or isolated… Asking 23 lakh-plus students to appear for a retest is tough.”

The Bench had directed the CBI to submit a status report on the probe into the paper leak and posted the matter for further hearing on July 11.

Both the Centre and NTA have opposed scrapping the examination. In an affidavit filed in the top court, the Centre said scrapping the entire examination would seriously jeopardise lakhs of honest candidates who didn’t adopt any unfair means.

In a separate affidavit, the NTA opposed cancellation of the exam, saying it “would be hugely counterproductive and harmful to the larger public interest”.