Supreme Court halts NEET cases in High Courts amid allegations, issues notice to NTA, Centre

The Supreme Court halted all cases related to alleged leaks and malpractices from various High Courts. A bench comprising Justice Vikram Nath and Justice SVN Bhatti issued a notice to both the Central Government and the National Testing Agency (NTA), seeking their responses by July 8, the date set for the next hearing.

During the proceedings, the bench considered a total of 14 petitions, with 10 filed by 49 students and the Student Federation of India, a prominent student organization. Additionally, four petitions were submitted by the NTA.

Among the key demands raised in the petitions was the constitution of a court-appointed committee to investigate the alleged irregularities in the NEET exam. However, the Supreme Court dismissed this request during the hearing.

Furthermore, the Supreme Court declined to halt the ongoing NEET counselling process, reiterating its previous stance. The bench clarified that if the examinations are to proceed following the final hearing, counselling procedures must also continue without interruption.

Highlighting the grievances of the students, one of the lawyers representing them pointed out that candidates at the Meghalaya centre had lost 45 minutes during the exam and should be included among the 1563 students previously identified by the NTA for retesting.

In response, the bench directed the Central Government and the NTA to submit their replies by July 8 without imposing a stay on the proceedings, indicating its commitment to expeditiously address the issues raised while ensuring the continuation of the NEET process nationwide.

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