New Delhi. The Supreme Court's clear indication to those who are demanding cancellation of the entire NEET-UG exam and holding it afresh on the basis of irregularities and paper leak is that the decision to hold the re-examination will depend on the extent to which the paper leak has affected the entire exam.

The court said that one thing is clear that the paper has been leaked. We have to find out how much impact it has had. If the situation is such that the paper leak has had a huge impact on the entire examination process and it is not possible to identify those who have taken advantage of it from others, then a re-examination may have to be ordered.

It is not right to order a re-examination

The apex court said that if the sanctity of the exam has been breached and it is not possible to identify the culprits then a re-examination will have to be ordered but if that is not the case then it would not be appropriate to order a re-examination as the future of over 23 lakh students is at stake.

NTA and government will answer the court 

To find out the impact and extent of the paper leak, the court has sought time and date wise details of the paper leak from the National Testing Agency (NTA) and has also asked how many centers have been affected by it. It has asked how many people have been identified who have taken advantage of the paper leak and what action has been taken against them. Along with this, NTA and the government will also tell what steps have been taken to prevent such incidents in future.

Latest status report sought from CBI 

The court has asked the government to consider forming a committee of experts from various fields to ensure the purity of the examination. Along with this, the court has also sought a fresh status report from the CBI on the ongoing investigation into the NEET paper leak and irregularities. This order was given by a three-member bench headed by Chief Justice DY Chandrachud on Monday during the hearing on more than two dozen petitions related to NEET.

Petitioner should file a brief note of ten pages

The court has asked the NTA and the central government to file all the details and affidavits by Wednesday. Apart from this, the petitioners demanding re-examination have also been told that they can together file a brief note of ten pages. The case will be heard again on Thursday. Earlier, the lawyers demanding re-examination alleged NEET paper leak and irregularities and said that cases have been registered in six states, CBI is investigating. In the notification of February 9, NTA had given the estimated date of declaration of result as June 14, but later the date of result was brought forward and the result was declared on June 4.

It was also said that in NEET 2024, 67 students have got full 720 marks whereas this has never happened before, which casts doubt on the entire examination. A day before the examination, on May 4, the NEET paper was released on the Telegram channel and its answers were also there. It was said that the Supreme Court has already told in its previous decision that when the examination can be ordered again. In this case, FIRs have been registered in six states of Patna, Delhi, Rajasthan, Maharashtra, Gujarat and Jharkhand, which is being investigated by the CBI. After hearing the arguments, Chief Justice Chandrachud, who is heading the bench, said that it is clear that the paper has been leaked. The sanctity of the examination has been violated. Now it has to be seen to what extent the examination process has been affected by this.

'Also tell what was the time and date of paper leak'

The court asked Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, who appeared on behalf of NTA, that when are the papers printed in which printing press and how do they reach the printing press. After printing, do they come directly to NTA or do they go to Canara and SBI banks. When, at what time, how many days in advance do the papers reach the bank and how do they reach there. Also tell what was the time and date of paper leak. The bench said that if there was not much difference between the time of paper leak and the time of examination, then it is possible that the impact may not be much because answers cannot be memorized so quickly.

The extent and impact of the paper leak will be assessed

What was the medium through which the paper was leaked? If the paper is leaked through electronic medium like Telegram, Whatsapp then it spreads like wildfire. How is the paper of an exam held abroad sent to the embassy? The extent and impact of the paper leak will have to be assessed. If the sanctity of the exam has been violated and the culprits cannot be identified then a re-examination will have to be ordered.

What steps has NTA taken to identify the perpetrators and how many have been identified so far? What steps have been taken to ensure that such a thing does not happen again in the future and the sanctity of the exam is maintained? The court said that the government should form a committee of experts from various fields to suggest how to tighten the exam process. NTA and the Centre will also tell if there is a possibility of a data analysis cyber forensic unit to identify the suspects. Which will identify the tainted and the clean.