No NEET-UG retest, SC says no evidence to suggest systemic breach

The Supreme Court on Tuesday said there is no data to suggest a "systemic breach" or that the "sanctity" of the examination had been affected, so there will be no retest of NEET-UG.

"We are of the considered view that ordering the cancellation of the entire NEET UG 2024 exam is neither justified on application of settled principles propounded by the decisions of this court nor on the basis of material on record," the bench of Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud and Justices JB Pardiwala and Manoj Misra said.

The court also said ordering the cancellation of NEET UG 2024 is unjustified.

The bench explained that while it is not disputed that question paper leaks or breaches happened in Patna and Hazaribagh, there is no material yet to show a systemic breach affecting the sanctity of NEET.

"At the present stage, there is an absence of material on the record sufficient to lead to the conclusion that the result of the examination stands vitiated or that there is a systemic breach of the sanctity of the examination," the court said.

The court said it realised that directing a fresh NEET-UG for the present year would result in serious consequences for over 24 lakh students who appeared in this exam.

The court, however, has accepted IIT Delhi committee's reply on the correct answer to a controversial question. Between options 2 and 4, option 4 is accepted as the correct answer. The National Testing Agency (NTA) has been directed to re-tally the NEET UG results on this basis.