NEET: SC asks NTA to release centre-wise marks by July 20, keeping identities masked

SC says retest has to be on concrete basis that sanctity of entire exam was affected

In a significant move addressing allegations of malpractices in the NEET-UG 2024, the Supreme Court directed the National Testing Agency (NTA) to declare the centre and citywise results of the controversial examination by noon on July 20, without revealing the identities of the aspirants. This decision aims to ascertain whether candidates at allegedly compromised centres scored higher marks than those at other centres.

The bench, headed by Chief Justice D Y Chandrachud and comprising Justices JB Pardiwala and Manoj Misra, said that any decision to conduct a fresh examination must be based on a concrete conclusion that the alleged paper leak was systemic and had compromised the integrity of the entire process.

“We direct the NTA to publish the marks obtained by students at the UG-2024 NEET examination, while, at the same time, without disclosing the identity of the students. The result should be declared city and centrewise by 12 noon on July 20, 2024, and shall be uploaded on the website of the NTA,” the bench stated in its order.

“We want the identity of students be masked. You can have dummy roll numbers. But let us see it centre-wise what is the marks pattern,” the bench said.

The Supreme Court will resume hearing arguments on July 22 on various pleas seeking the cancellation of the exam, a re-test, and a courtmonitored investigation into the alleged malpractices.