The Supreme Court has asked the National Testing Agency (NTA) to respond to a petition requesting the cancellation of the NEET-UG 2024 exam due to alleged paper leaks and malpractices. The petition also calls for a re-test. Advocate Mathews J Nedumpara, representing the petitioners, urged the court to halt the counselling process, which the court refused, stating, "Let the counselling start, we are not stopping the counselling."

NEET Hearing 

The hearing for the NEET UG case is scheduled for July 8, 2024. The vacation bench of Justices Vikram Nath and Ahsanuddin Amanullah declined to stay the counselling process for MBBS and other courses. The petition argues that the alleged paper leak violated Article 14 (right to equality) of the Constitution by unfairly advantaging some candidates.

Shivangi Mishra and nine other petitioners filed the plea on June 1, seeking the cancellation of NEET UG. The NEET results were announced on June 4 and have since sparked controversy, including discussions on the grace marks policy. Additional petitions have been filed challenging the NTA's decision to award grace marks to certain candidates, which will be heard separately.

Protest of Stakeholders

Various stakeholders, including NEET aspirants, coaching institutes, and student bodies like AISA and SFI, have protested against the exam. Opposition leaders Priyanka Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi have criticized the government over the irregularities in NEET results and promised to raise the issue in Parliament.

Last week, the NTA confirmed that the Ministry of Education has formed a four-member panel to review the awarding of grace marks to more than 1,500 candidates.