NEET-UG row: SC issues notices on NTA's plea to move cases from HCs to it

The Supreme Court on Friday issued notices to private parties on a plea of the National Testing Agency seeking transfer of cases pending in various high courts on the NEET-UG row to the top court to avoid multiplicity of litigation.

A vacation bench of Justices Vikram Nath and Sandeep Mehta took note of the submission of the National Testing Agency's (NTA) counsel that several pleas, seeking cancellation of the National Eligibility cum Entrance TestUnder Graduate, 2024 on the allegations of question paper leak and other malpractices, are pending in several high courts.

Issue notice, the bench said, adding they will be taken up for hearing on July 8.

The NTA, meanwhile, said it wanted to withdraw three other petitions, which were seeking transfer of cases from high courts to the top court, as they pertained to grant of grace marks to 1,563 candidates on account of loss of time during the examination on May 5.

The counsel for the NTA said the issue has been settled and that he will be intimating the high court about the decision to cancel the compensatory marks given to 1,536 candidates and the consequential June 13 order of the top court.

Amid a raging row over the NEET-UG examination, the Centre and the NTA on Thursday told the Supreme Court they have cancelled the grace marks given to 1,563 candidates who took the examination for admission to MBBS and other such courses.

They will have the option to either take a re-test or forgo the compensatory marks awarded to them for loss of time, the centre had said.

The examination was held on May 5 across 4,750 centres and around 24 lakh candidates took it. The results were expected to be declared on June 14 but were announced on June 4, apparently because the evaluation of the answer sheets got completed earlier.

The allegations have led to protests in several cities and filing of cases in seven high courts as also the Supreme Court. Scores of students protested in Delhi on June 10 seeking a probe into alleged irregularities.

As many as 67 students scored a perfect 720, unprecedented in the NTA's history, with six from a centre in Haryana's Faridabad figuring in the list, raising suspicions about irregularities. It has been alleged that grace marks contributed to 67 students sharing the top rank.

The NEET-UG examination is conducted by the NTA for admissions to MBBS, BDS, AYUSH and other related courses in government and private institutions across the country.