Supreme Court Refuses Urgent Hearing Of Application Seeking CBI And ED Probe Into NEET-UG 2024 Alleged Paper Leak

An Application has been filed in the Supreme Court in a pending matter for seeking directions to the Central Bureau of Investigation ('CBI') and the Enforcement Directorate ('ED') to investigate the incidents of alleged paper leaks and malpractices in the National Entrance-cum-Eligibility Test-Under Graduate Exam, 2024 (NEET-UG, 2024) question paper leak which has occurred in different parts of the country, and to secure exemplary punishment for the guilty.

Advocate Mathews Nedumpara mentioned an application today before the Vacation Bench of Justices Abhay S Oka and Justice Rajesh Bindal and requested that notice be issued on the application. The bench refused to list the matter and remarked that the NEET matters were already listed on July 8, 2024.

The Application was filed in a writ petition under Article 32 of the Constitution which sought a stay on the declaration of results and directions to the National Testing Agency ('NTA') to conduct the re-examinations again given the alleged paper leak. The Court had issued in the matter and had listed it on July 8, 2024. 

The Application also sought for a stay on the counselling process which is scheduled to be held on July 6, 2024, and to direct the Bihar Police to expedite the investigation in the pending FIRs. 

The Application stated, "In some places the wrong set of question papers were distributed and later recalled. This meant a significant amount of precious time being lost. The means by which the authorities sought to undo the grievance arising out of the questions not being provided on time was by granting grace marks for the time lost. Responding to the large-scale public criticism, the authorities decided to withdraw the grace marks, giving an option to the candidates to opt for the actual marks they scored or to participate in a re-examination which is to be conducted shortly. However, the consequence arising out of the question paper leak which the Patna Police has now unearthed leaves the authorities with no option than to cancel the entire examination and conduct it afresh in the most foolproof manner."

Further, it said, "The Bihar Police has only invoked Sections 407,408,409 and 120B of the Indian Penal Code. The offence is not confided to the IPC alone. Section 418 of IPC and Section 72 of IT Act,2000 included under Part A at Schedule appended to the PMLA are also attracted. Until and unless the Enforcement Directorate takes cognizance of the matter or this Hon’ble Court directs the Enforcement Directorate to take action, the accused will not be brought under the stringent provisions of the PMLA."

The Court had passed similar orders in petitions filed by Alakh Pandey, alias Physics Wallah, and by Abdullah Faiz challenging the NEET-UG 2024 exam's alleged paper leak, and also petitions seeking a probe by the CBI in the matter.

On June 14, 2024, The Court had also issued notice in the petition filed by the NTA seeking a transfer of pending petitions before various High Courts alleging the malpractices in NEET-UG. The Court tagged the matter and listed it on July 8, 2024. Other transfer petitions filed by NTA were withdrawn as they were related to the grant of compensatory marks, which has already been decided by the Court on June 13, 2024.

The Supreme Court in the previous petition had issued notice in a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) raising the alarming issue of the leakage of the NEET UG 2024 exam paper and the ensuing maladministration in states like Rajasthan, Bihar, Chhattisgarh, etc. The PIL had asserted that these incidents have unfairly disadvantaged deserving candidates, infringing upon their fundamental right to equality and equal opportunities enshrined under Article 14 of the Constitution of India. This Petition is now listed on July 8, 2024.

Cause Title: Shivangi Mishra and Ors. v. National Testing Agency and Ors. (W.P.(C) No. 362/2024)