SC denies NEET-UG cancellation, says no’systemic breach’ to exam’s integrity

NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Tuesday in its order refused to conduct a retest for the NEET-UG examination noting that there is no material evidence to suggest that there was a systemic breach of the sanctity of the examination.

A three-judge bench of the top court, led by Chief Justice D Y Chandrachud and comprising Justices J B Pardiwala and Manoj Misra delivered the verdict after hearing a batch of petitions filed by students, who alleged malpractices and other irregularities in the exam.

“Data on record is not indicative of a systemic leak of the question paper which would indicate a disruption of the sanctity of the exam.On the material placed on record, at the present stage, there is absence of materials on record to show results of the exam was vitiated or there was a systemic breach in the conduct of the exam,” the court noted.

“For the above reasons, 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 court said.

It is expected that the counselling would start from July 24.