NEET-UG: SC asks IIT Delhi to set up team of experts, seeks report on right answer to question

New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Monday asked the Director, IIT-Delhi to set up a team of three experts that would go into a particular question asked in the NEET-UG 2024 examination and submit a report on the correct answer by Tuesday noon.

The top court took note of the submissions of some aspirants that a question related to an “atom” and its characteristics had two correct answers and a set of examinees, who gave one particular answer out of the two correct ones, were awarded four marks.

This, the petitioners contended before a bench headed by Chief Justice D Y Chandrachud, would have a significant impact on the final merit list of successful candidates.

Referring to the question, the bench said, “As indicated in the question as framed, of which students had to select one option as their answer. In order to resolve the issue as regards the correct answer, we are of the considered view that an expert opinion should be sought from IIT Delhi.”

“We request the Director of IIT Delhi to constitute a team of three experts of the subject concerned. The expert team constituted by the Director is requested to formulate the opinion on the correct option and remit the opinion to the Registrar by 12 noon tomorrow,” the bench said.

It asked the Registrar General of the apex court to communicate the order to the Director of IIT-Delhi.

The bench will resume hearing on Tuesday the pleas related to the controversy-ridden medical entrance exam.

Earlier in the day, the bench, also comprising Justices JB Pardiwala and Manoj Misra, asked the petitioners, who are seeking cancellation of the NEET-UG 2024, to show there was a “systemic failure” in conducting the examination.

It asked them to provide data to establish that the question paper leak was “widespread” and across the country.

Observing that there was no material on record so far to show that the leak was widespread, the bench said there have been instances of some wrongdoing in Patna and Hazaribagh but they were not sufficient to indicate a systemic failure.

The top court also questioned the grant of grace marks and grace time to certain students at examination centres in Haryana's Jhajjar.

“Now show us the data. At the end of it, even if we assume that problems happened, we are looking at the whole country. Show us the data to say that it was widespread,” the bench said.

It asked senior advocate Narinder Hooda, appearing for some aspirants, to establish with the help of data made available by the National Testing Agency (NTA) that the leak was beyond Hazaribagh and Patna.

“Show us as to how widespread is it. From CBI’s third report, we know where the printing press was located. We do not want to say the location here,” the CJI said.

The bench asked the NTA to give it a note on grant of grace marks and time to certain category of students in Jhajjar and other places where "wrong" question papers were distributed.

Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, appearing for the Centre and the NTA, dismissed the claims of a “systemic failure” and said it was wrong to suggest that the examination process was vitiated in the entire country.

“Giving some examples of some mistakes may not assist him (counsel for petitioners),” the law officer said.

The bench is hearing more than 40 pleas including those filed by the NTA seeking transfer of cases pending against it in various high courts over alleged irregularities in the conduct of the examination to the Supreme Court to avoid multiplicity of litigations.

More than 23.33 lakh students had taken the test on May 5 at 4,750 centres in 571 cities, including 14 overseas.

The National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test-Undergraduate (NEET-UG) is conducted by the NTA for admissions to MBBS, BDS, AYUSH and other related courses in government and private institutions across the country.