June 27th 2024.
The Supreme Court of India has recently requested the National Testing Agency (NTA) to provide information on whether there is a time limit for raising grievances regarding the OMR sheets of candidates who appeared in the NEET-UG 2024 exam. A vacation bench consisting of Justices Manoj Misra and SVN Bhatti issued this notice in response to a fresh plea filed by a private coaching centre and a few NEET candidates. The petition has been tagged with other pending matters and is set to be heard on July 8.
During the hearing, Senior Advocate R Basant, representing the coaching institute and the candidates, brought to the court's attention that some students who took the exam have not received their OMR sheets. The bench questioned Basant on how a private coaching institute can file a petition in the Supreme Court under Article 32 and what fundamental rights of the institution were affected. The NTA counsel informed the court that the OMR sheets have been uploaded on the website and provided to all the candidates. However, the bench asked if there was a specific time limit for raising concerns about the OMR sheets. The NTA counsel requested time to gather instructions and requested for the petition to be listed with the other pending matters. He also assured the court that a short written reply would be filed to address the court's query on the time limit.
Basant pointed out that there is no set procedure or time limit for raising grievances, and as an interim relief, the candidates are seeking access to their OMR sheets. The bench then issued a notice and tagged the petition with the pending matters, while also instructing the NTA counsel to file a short written reply regarding the time limit.
On June 20, the Supreme Court had sought responses from the Centre, NTA, and others on various petitions related to the NEET-UG 2024 exam, including those seeking its cancellation and a court-monitored probe into alleged irregularities. The court had also stated that even if there was a slight negligence in conducting the examination, it must be thoroughly addressed. The next hearing for all the petitions is scheduled for July 8.
The NEET-UG 2024 exam is conducted by the NTA for admission to MBBS, BDS, AYUSH, and other related courses in government and private institutions across the country. On June 13, the Centre and NTA had informed the court that they had cancelled the grace marks given to 1,563 candidates who appeared for the exam. These candidates were given the option to either take a retest or forgo the compensatory marks awarded to them for the loss of time. The exam was held on May 5, and around 24 lakh candidates appeared for it. The results, which were expected to be declared on June 14, were announced on June 4, leading to suspicions about irregularities in the evaluation process.
These allegations have sparked protests in various cities and have become a topic of debate among rival political parties. In a first, 67 students scored a perfect 720 in the exam, with six students from a centre in Haryana's Faridabad making it to the list. This has raised concerns about the use of grace marks, which may have contributed to the top rank being shared by 67 students.
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