NEET illegalities: Delhi Police files status report before HC

The city police today informed the Delhi High Court that it has arrested eight persons and filed a charge sheet in connection with alleged illegalities in the 2016 National Eligibility Entrance Test (NEET) to admit students in post-graduate medical courses.
Claiming that it was the Delhi Police which had cracked the "scam", the agency told a bench headed by Acting Chief Justice Gita Mittal that it had also showed collusion between some officials and the company M/s Prometrics Private Ltd which conducted the examination.
The submissions were made in a status report filed by the police following a high court order on the plea of Dr Anand Rai, who claims to be the whistleblower in the Vyapam scam of Madhya Pradesh, seeking a court-monitored SIT/CBI probe.

The report was filed by the police additional standing counsel Gautam Narain before the bench which also comprised Justice C Hari Shankar.
"We have no love for this case. If the court feels, it can transfer the case to the CBI," the standing counsel said.
During the hearing, senior advocate Kapil Sibal, appearing for Rai, alleged that the top officials in this matter were untouched by the police despite there being indiscrepencies in the conduct of the exam.

Sibal said "the investigation agency has not seized the servers and the company (Prometrics) responsible for conducting the exam has gone free."

The counsel then told the court that the police was still investigating the matter and no aspersion should be cast on it that it was not probing the case.
The bench, however, did not comment on the arguments and asked the police to file an additional status report before next date of hearing on October 26.
The court had on August 21 issued notice to the CBI, National Board of Examination (NBE), Medical Council of India and M/s Prometrics Pvt Ltd, which had sub-contracted with CMS IT Services Private Ltd to hire engineers, site supervisors and other staff to prepare exam labs for conducting the NEET PG examination at 43 centres across India.

It had also expressed concern over the delay in concluding the probe and asked the authorities to file their response.
Rai has in his petition submitted that the crime branch of Delhi Police was not competent to handle the investigation of this nature which required technical expertise.
The petition said at this point of time, the police was acting like a "post office, still awaiting technical data from NBE and M/s Prometrics Ltd and asking Delhi Lt Governor to provide a technical team for analysis of the technical data."
An FIR was lodged on February 1 against 11 persons and charge sheet was filed on July 9 this year under various sections of the IPC including 419 (cheating by personation), 420 (cheating) and 120B (criminal conspiracy) and under the Information and Technology Act.

The plea sought transfer of investigation from the crime branch to Special Investigative Team (SIT) comprising members having expertise in Computer Science and/or an investigation by the CBI or any other competent central agency.
It has also sought direction to the NBE to initiate appropriate proceedings against the candidates whose names have been disclosed in the charge sheet for allegedly securing admissions in NEET-PG, 2017 using unfair or fraudulent means.
It sought directions to the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare that NEET examination be conducted by a public authority with proper oversight and involvement of government officials.