The Supreme Court of India on Monday expressed disappointment over the recurrence of alleged NEET paper leaks, observing that the National Testing Agency (NTA) appeared not to have learnt from past lapses despite earlier intervention by the apex court.
A bench comprising Justices P. S. Narasimha and Alok Aradhe sought responses from the Centre, the NTA and the CBI on petitions seeking replacement of the testing agency with an independent and more robust mechanism to conduct the NEET examination.
The bench directed the NTA to file an affidavit by Thursday detailing compliance with recommendations made by a court-monitored expert committee constituted after last year’s controversy. “It’s sad that they have not learnt their lessons,” the court observed, noting that the matter had earlier reached the Supreme Court and recommendations of the monitoring panel had already been accepted.
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The court also asked the Centre-appointed committee led by former Indian Space Research Organisation chief K. Radhakrishnan to explain the steps taken to overhaul the functioning of the NTA.
The petitions, including one filed by the Federation of All India Medical Association (FAIMA), have sought restructuring or replacement of the NTA, arguing that repeated paper leaks amount to a violation of the rights of more than 22.7 lakh students appearing for NEET-UG.
The plea has also called for the appointment of a high-powered monitoring committee headed by a retired Supreme Court judge, alongside cybersecurity and forensic experts, to supervise any future re-examination process and prevent further leaks.
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The NEET-UG examination conducted by the NTA on May 3 for admissions to undergraduate medical courses was cancelled on May 12 following allegations of a paper leak. The matter is currently under investigation by the CBI.
(With inputs from agencies)
