2024 NEET controversy
The examination results, declared on 4 June 2024, also sparked controversy due to a significant increase in the number of top rankers.
On 23 July 2024 , the Supreme Court of India acknowledged that at least 155 students directly benefited from the paper leak ruled that there were no indications of an overall systemic failure, barring a few circumstances.
The Court denied any large-scale leak of the NEET (UG) 2024 paper and ruled that there would be no re-examination, as there were no credible reports of widespread issues.
[4] The NTA denied these allegations but issued a public notice stating that an incorrect distribution of papers had occurred at the Girls Higher Secondary Model Vidya Mandir examination center in Sawai Madhopur, Rajasthan.
[11] The EOU found that some medical aspirants had paid large sums of money, ranging from ₹30 to ₹50 lakh, to brokers involved in the racket for obtaining the question paper before the examination.
During the investigation, CBI had found a burnt question paper in Patna with a serial number corresponding to Oasis Public School in Hazaribagh.
[13] According to the CBI, the center superintendent of Oasis Public School in Hazaribagh, Jharkhand had left the back door of the strong room, where exam papers were stored, open.
At 8:02 am, the accused, Pankaj Kumar, also known as Aditya, entered the room with his toolkit, opened the locker, removed the seal from a question paper, took photographs of it, and then resealed it using a lighter.
[25] A few days later, it was revealed that 16 of at least 26 students whose names were on the list seized from the school teacher hailed from Odisha, Jharkhand, Maharashtra, and Karnataka.
A total of 67 students achieved perfect scores, a significantly higher number than in previous examinations, which raised controversy.
The NTA clarified that the increase in top scorers was due to 44 of the 67 students incorrectly answering a physics question but still being awarded marks because of an error in an older version of the NCERT textbook.
The NTA later clarified that 1,563 examinees,[33] including six top scorers from the same center, were awarded compensatory marks for lost time.
[40] On 23 July, the Supreme Court established that, while there was no denying that a paper leak occurred where 155 students directly benefited from it , said that there was no indication that it was widespread enough to affect the exam as a whole.
The NTA conducted an investigation into the paper leak allegations and released a public notice declaring these claims to be "completely baseless and without any ground.
"[44] On 6 June 2024, the NTA issued an official clarification notice refuting the suspicions of a paper leak and justified the early results declaration.
[45] On 8 June 2024, the National Testing Agency and the Ministry of Education announced in a press conference that a four-member committee would be formed to investigate the results of the 1,563 students who were given grace marks.
"[47] On 19 June 2024, the Education Ministry canceled the UGC–NET examination following inputs from the Indian Cyber Crime Coordination Centre (I4C) suggesting that the exam's integrity may have been compromised.
Regarding the exam cancellation, he emphasized that the future of many candidates from rural areas should not be held hostage due to isolated incidents.
[51] On 21 June 2024, the central government enforced the Public Examinations (Prevention of Unfair Means) Act, 2024, an anti-cheating law passed by parliament in February 2024.
[54] On 22 June 2024, the government dismissed NTA Director General Subodh Kumar Singh from his position and handed the case related to NEET (UG) irregularities to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).
[51] On 27 June 2024, President of India Droupadi Murmu, in her address to the 18th Lok Sabha, stated, Regarding the recent instances of paper leaks in some examinations, my government is committed to a fair investigation and ensuring strict punishment for the culprits.
[60] A delegation of the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP), the student wing of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), met with the education minister, demanding a CBI probe into the matter.
[61] General Secretary of the Indian National Congress, Priyanka Gandhi, questioned the government about ignoring student complaints.
"[66] On 22 July 2024 , during the budget session of the Lok Sabha, Gandhi again questioned the government on the NEET (UG) issue, accusing it of lacking accountability and transparency.
