NEET-UG 2024: SC refuses to stay counselling process amid 'grace marks' row
NEET-UG 2024 row: The Supreme Court issued a notice to the National Testing Agency on pleas seeking fresh NEET-UG 2024 examination amid allegations of paper leak
 "NEET-UG 2024: SC refuses to stay counselling process amid 'grace marks' row")
The Supreme Court on Tuesday refused to stay the NEET-UG 2024 result based counselling process for admissions in MBBS, other courses for successful candidates.
National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test (NEET) examination is a graduate level entrance test for admission to different medical courses in India.
The top court issued a notice to the National Testing Agency (NTA) on pleas seeking fresh NEET-UG 2024 examination amid allegations of paper leak. “It is not that simple that since you have done it, it is sacrosanct. Sanctity has been affected, so we need answers,” a vacation bench of Justices Vikram Nath and Ahsanuddin Amanullah told NTA.
NEET aspirants stage protest
The court’s remarks followed as scores of NEET aspirants have staged protests across the country, alleging paper leak and other irregularities observed in this year’s NEET results.
Besides, paper leak, alleged irregularities in awarding of grace marks to about 1,500 students is also a major concern of many students as well as Tamil Nadu and Maharashtra state governments.
How many NEET students got grace marks?
The inflation of marks for 1,543 students from six centres who “lost time during exams” has resulted in an unprecedented 67 candidates achieving a perfect score of 720 out of 720. The issue has further raised eyebrows as six of these toppers emerged from the same centre in Haryana’s Jhajjar.
The apex court has posted the case for hearing on July 8.
NEET 2024 grace marks under panel review
The NTA has denied any irregularities, however, said that the grace marks in question will be reviewed by a four member panel set up by the Centre.
“The awarding of grace marks has not impacted the qualifying criteria of the exam and the review of results of the affected candidates will not impact the admission process,” Subodh Kumar Singh, the director general of the NTA, said in a press conference on Saturday.
The committee will submit the recommendations within a week and the results of these students might be revised, he added.
Physics Wallah CEO approaches SC
A separate plea has also been filed in the top court by Alakh Pandey, CEO of the educational platform Physics Wallah over the grace marks row. “Our Public Interest Litigation will be listed tomorrow. It is regarding the paper leak as well as the grace marks, the transparencies of NTA and everything else,” Pandey told reporters after today’s hearing.
A total of two million students registered for the exam, out of which 1.1 million candidates qualified.