NEET UG 2024 SC Hearing Live: CJI orders expert opinion on Physics question

NEET UG 2024 SC Hearing Live: As per PTI report, the performance of the candidates from the centres under the scanner — such as Oasis School, Hazaribagh, Jharkhand, Hardayal Public School, Jhajjar, Haryana, Jay Jalaram International School in Godhra, Gujarat — were comparatively much below par.

NEET UG 2024 SC Hearing Live: The city, centre wise results was announced on July 20, 2024. The link is still available on the official website of NTA NEET.

NEET UG 2024 SC Hearing Live: On Monday, the NEET paper leak issue was raised in the Parliament. The Supreme Court is also hearing the batch of petitions related to the controversy-ridden medical entrance exam today, July 22, 2024.

NEET UG Hearing 2024 Live: The Supreme Court hearing of NEET UG related matters will resume at 2 pm, after lunch.

Hooda: On the issue of paper leak, the direct evidence is before the court. Since petitioners are not privy to the investigation, we can rely only upon circumstantial evidence.

CJI to Hooda: You have pointed out issues like there is no clarity when the OMR sheets are sealed, the time gap between the exam and deposit of OMR sheets, the lack of address verification (to choose exam city).

(Live Law)

NEET UG 2024 SC Hearing Live: Justice J Pardiwala said that there are two ways of looking and asked if it was Advocate Hooda’s argument that the systemic failure led to paper leak.

Hooda said no.

NEET UG 2024 SC Hearing Live: There was a systemic failure in the conduct of NEET UG besides the paper leak, Senior Advocate Narender Hooda said.

“My argument is that their system is so fragile that it is consistently being compromised,” he said.

NEET UG 2024 SC Hearing Live: Advocate Hooda said there is a heavy tilt towards Sikar because of a systemic malaise and it is not possible to separate the tainted from the untainted.

(Live Law)

NEET UG 2024 SC Hearing Live: Senior Advocate Hooda argued that NEET UG city coordinators are principals of private schools and the invigilators are employees of these schools. Therefore, the possibility can not be ruled out that they are in league with coaching centres in Kota and Sikar.

(Live Law)

Hooda submitted that people have travelled to far away exam centres to appear in NEET UG. He also gave the example of a Gujarat student who failed the 12th board but did extremely well in the NEET UG exam.

CJI: Does a student at any point of registration have to submit proof of residence? Does a candidate apply for a centre or city?

Hooda: There are certain centres that are doing exceedingly well. Both Kota and Sikar have an equal number of candidates. If we calculate the number of top centres in the country where students got over 650 marks, 38 out of 50 are only from Sikar.

Hooda: In Hardayal School, the students were given grace marks and 6 of them full marks. If the Canara Bank paper was given, what was the question of grace marks?

SG: Wherever the wrong paper was given and withdrawn later, grace marks were given for time loss.

CJI: In Hardyal school, all students wrote the Canara Bank paper. Why were they given grace marks?

Hooda said there is a systemic failure.

Hooda: With regard to Jhajjar, the NTA fist said Canara Bank paper was distributed and evaluated. Now they (NTA) are saying no grace mark was given and the candidates were allowed extra time. In the Hardayal school, the student who got 719 marks was first at rank 68. After re-test, the rank is 58,000. Now the NTA does not know whether the Canara Bank or SBI paper was given.

(Inputs from Live Law)

NEET UG Result 2024 Live: The Chief Justice asked how did Canara Bank know who is the right person to collect the question papers and who issues the authorisation letter.

The Solicitor General replied it is the director general of the NTA who informs the city coordinators.

CJI: Does the person has authorisation to go to only one bank or both?

SG: It is for both banks and the city coordinator is told in the morning which bank to go.

CJI: Did the city coordinator in Jhajjar go to Canara Bank and distribute that paper to all centres or only some?

NTA: He distributed Canara Bank paper to two centres out of three. From two centres, the paper was withdrawn after the mistake was realised and at one centre, the exam was allowed to continue.

CJI asks NTA to make note of 4 points-

• At how many centres Canara Bank papers were distributed?
• Out of those centres how many were those where correct booklets were replaced?
• The number of centres where questions were evaluated using Canara Bank booklets.
• Once Canara Bank papers were evaluated, how did the candidates fare there as the answer key of Canara Bank papers was not disclosed?

CJI: Were grace marks given to only those given SBI papers? What happened to those who appeared for wrong papers?

NTA: Their marks were given based on answer keys.

Hooda asks in the case of Canara Bank question papers, there was no answer key. How did they (NTA) evaluate the candidates?

NTA: There were centres where the correct paper was distributed midway

SG: There are 3 centres in Jhajjar. In one, students attempted the Canara Bank paper. At the remaining two, the SBI papers were distributed half-way

11:52

CJI: Why grace marks, then?

SG: There is a past Supreme Court decision which stated if there is a time loss, grace marks will be given. However, we recalled that decision and a retest was held.

NEET UG 2024 SC Hearing Live:

Hooda: The principal of the Jhajjar school said there was no delay in distribution of papers.

CJI: How did the incharge of Jhajjar school go to Canara Bank when all papers were to be collected from SBI?

NTA says it was a mistake.

NEET UG 2024 SC Hearing Live: In the case of the the Bahadurgarh school in Jhajjar, the paper was taken from Canara Bank. Six candidates from that school got 100 per cent marks out of 720, Hooda said.

Adv Hooda: They (NTA) say the papers were dispatched on April 24 and in the case of Hazaribagh, it was on April 28. The papers were to reach the banks by May 3. The papers remained on private hands for a fairly long time.

NEET UG 2024 SC Hearing Live: You have to establish on the basis of data if the leak systemic or confined to Hazaribagh and Patna, the CJI told Hooda.

Up until now, we are only focused on Hazaribagh and Patna, whether the leak took place in the morning of the 5th, the night of 4th or before the papers were placed at the vault, he added.

The CJI said the court does not have any material so far to indicate the leak was so widespread that it had gone all over the country.

NEET UG 2024 SC Hearing Live: If the leak has taken place on the night of May 4, obviously the leak did not take place during transportation but prior to it, at the strong room vault, said the Chief Justice.

NEET UG 2024 SC Hearing Live: Referring to a statement by Amit Anand, a middleman, the CJI said that the students were asked to memorise answers in the night of May 4, which indicates the leak had happened before May 4.

• The Supreme Court on July 18 directed the NTA to publish centre and city-wise results of NEET UG 2024. Ensuring that the identities of the candidates are protected.
• The court decided to limit the scrutiny to two specific instances of paper leaks in Patna and Hazaribagh.
• The petitioners were asked to show that the paper leak was “systemic”.
• The court said it would like to go through the investigation report of the Bihar Police.
• The NTA also informed that the UG medical counselling will begin on July 14.

NEET UG 2024 SC Hearing Live: The Supreme Court bench is going through the investigation reports submitted by the Bihar police.

NEET UG 2024 SC Hearing Live: Advocate Hooda argued that the paper leak did not happen on the morning of the exam day, but before the question papers were deposited with the banks – on or before May 3.