The Supreme Court on Thursday halted all proceedings related to the alleged leaks and malpractices surrounding the NEET-UG 2024 issue in multiple High Courts. The bench, comprising Justice Vikram Nath and Justice SVN Bhatti, issued a notice on the National Testing Agency’s (NTA) petitions to consolidate and transfer all NEET-related cases from seven High Courts to be heard collectively in the Supreme Court.
The Supreme Court issued a notice to the Centre and the NTA regarding petitions seeking cancellation of NEET-UG 2024 and a court-monitored probe into alleged irregularities. Responses are due by July 8 for the next hearing. The court considered 14 petitions, including 10 from students and ‘Student Federation of India,’ and four from the NTA. The latter requested the transfer of NEET-related cases from high courts to the Supreme Court. One student petition proposed a court-appointed committee. The court scheduled further proceedings for July 8 alongside other petitions.
The Supreme Court stood firm on not stopping the NEET counselling process, reiterating its stance. The bench clarified that if the exam proceeds as planned after the final hearing, counselling will also proceed accordingly. A lawyer representing students highlighted issues faced by those who took the exam at the Meghalaya center, losing 45 minutes. They argued that these students should be included among the 1,563 affected students. The bench instructed the Union government and NTA to respond and issued a notice accordingly.
The bench instructed that a reply should be filed by July 8 without issuing a stay. On Wednesday, the Supreme Court rejected the plea to stop NEET counselling and also refused to order a CBI investigation into alleged paper leaks and malpractices. Justices Vikram Nath and Sandeep Mehta stated that the CBI probe couldn’t proceed without hearing from all parties involved.