NEET UG Controversy 2024: Supreme Court seeks NTA's response, says 'sanctity of exam has been affected'

The Supreme Court refused to stay the counselling process for undergraduate medical courses. “We will not stop the counselling. If you argue further, we will dismiss this,” the court stated.

Candidates can refer to the table below to check the category-wise cut-off marks for previous years' NEET UG exams.

Candidates can check the category-wise cut-off and number of candidates for NEET UG 2024 exam from the table given below.

The NEET results have sparked significant controversy this year. A panel has been established to review the grant of grace marks given to 1,563 candidates to compensate for the "loss of time" during the exam. The NEET cut-offs have risen, resulting in as many as 67 NEET toppers instead of the usual one or two. This has led to court cases and allegations of a 'NEET scam' by thousands of students who have demanded a re-examination. Members of opposition parties have also voiced their opinions on the matter.

The National Testing Agency (NTA) recently stated that 1,563 students received compensation for the time lost during the NEET exam. According to the NEET 2024 results, out of the 67 candidates who scored a perfect 720, 44 of them achieved All India Rank (AIR) 1 due to a physics question with two correct answers, the NTA reported.

According to a PTI report, the Supreme Court on Tuesday sought responses from the Centre and the National Testing Agency (NTA) on a plea requesting a fresh examination for NEET-UG 2024. This was in response to alleged question paper leaks and other malpractices, with the court noting that the sanctity of the exam had been compromised.

An NEET aspirant wrote on X: "Supreme Court issues notice to National Testing Agency (NTA) in NEET case. The Supreme Court has sought a reply from the NTA while commenting on the petition to cancel the exam over paper leaks and irregularities in the results. "The Sanctity of NEET-UG 2024 has been affected, we need answers."

The Supreme Court has requested a response from the NTA regarding a plea for a new NEET-UG exam due to allegations of 'paper leak' and 'malpractice.' Despite this, a bench comprising Justice Vikram Nath and Justice Ahsanuddin Amanullah declined to halt the counselling process for successful candidates seeking admission to MBBS, BDS, and other courses.

Speaking about the NEET result controversy, Priyanka Gandhi Vadra posted on X that first the NEET exam paper was leaked and now students are alleging that there has been a scam in its results as well. Serious questions are being raised over 6 students from the same centre getting 720 out of 720 marks and many kinds of irregularities are coming to light. On the other hand, there are reports of many children committing suicide across the country after the results were announced. This is very sad and shocking.  

Why is the government ignoring the voice of lakhs of students? Students want answers to legitimate questions related to the rigging in the NEET exam results. Is it not the government's responsibility to investigate and resolve these legitimate complaints?

The NTA reported that around 1,600 candidates from six centres received incorrect question papers, and two to three candidates were given torn OMR sheets, leading to a loss of time. The affected candidates approached the High Court, requesting a re-exam or compensatory marks. An expert committee was formed to investigate the issue, and it recommended that the students should be compensated for the lost time.

"SC issues notice to National Testing Agency(NTA) on pleas seeking fresh NEET-UG, 2024 examination amid allegations of paper leak. Students protest on the streets in scorching heat against the NTA," X user poster on X.

"During the Supreme Court's hearing on the NEET-UG 2024 exam, Advocate J Sai Deepak stated, "Multiple petitions have been listed in the Court", an X user posted. According to  J Sai Deepak, some petitions were listed before the declaration of the NEET UG 2024 result, based on the paper leak.

Before the NEET UG result declaration, Shivangi Mishra and others had filed a plea on June 1. A few more petitions have been filed in the Supreme Court against the NTA's decision to award grace marks to several candidates after the results were out. However, these pleas are yet to be listed for hearing. On May 17, the Chief Justice of India (CJI)-led bench refused to grant a stay on the NEET-UG 2024 results, but agreed to issue notice on the plea for NEET re-exam. Notably, similar petitions are pending in different high courts as well.

While all eyes are on NEET controversy, some students have appealed to stop the demand for re-NEET 2024 and said conducting exam again equals mentally harassing 'genuinely hardworking students'. "In case NEET 2024 is taken again, it not only negates our tireless efforts but also imposes an immense mental and emotional burden on us. We have dedicated two years of our lives to rigorous preparation, sacrificing personal time and enduring significant stress. Requiring us to retake the exam is unfair for several reasons," online petition on change.org read.  

Tagging NTA, an NEET aspirant wrote on X: "Disheartened by the judgement of SC. If there is no stay on counselling or possibility of RE-NEET, what is the point. It would be a victory for those who were a part of the scam/fraud."

In a letter addressed to education minister Dharmendra Pradhan, MP Karti Chidambaram on NEET malpractices said: "Alarming reports have surfaced about the NEET UG 2024 question paper being leaked prior to the exam. Additionally, medical aspirants have raised concerns about numerous technical glitches during the exam, inaccuracies in the NTA NEET UG official answer keys, overcrowded and poorly managed exam centers, and allegations of inconsistent evaluation of answer scripts." "Claims of inaccuracies in the official answer keys have also been made, potentially altering scores significantly," he added. 

AIDSO Bengaluru district president Apoorva on NEET controversy said, "More than 24 lakh students across the country wrote the NEET exam. Before the exam, question paper was leaked, around 13 people were arrested, and it is unfortunate that 4 students who were supposed to write the exam were also involved in this scam. On the other hand, 6 students with consecutive serial numbers from the same exam center, scored 720 marks and not just that, 67 students have secured full marks! This is for the first time in the history of NEET exam." 

"It raises many questions about the transparency of exam process. In some places, due to the delay in  question paper distribution, they were given grace marks; On what basis is not answered by NTA. Declaring the exam result on June 4, ten days earlier, itself  raises many doubts." she said. 

The Supreme Court, which refused to stay the NEET UG counselling 2024 conducted by the Medical Counselling Committee (MCC), stated that the plea for cancellation of exam due to paper leak and irregularities will be next heard on July 8. 

Indian Medical Association Junior Doctors (IMA Junior Doctors) demanded CBI investigation into the NEET controversy and paper leak and asked: “Why National Testing Agency has came up with the new rule after the examination? Many students received different marks on their scorecards compared to their OMR sheets. These discrepancies were not due to grace marks, as these students were not from the centres where grace marks were purportedly given,”

On premature declaration of NEET results 2024, AISU told Lokpal of India that it “appears to be a deliberate attempt to divert public attention from the irregularities and corruption within the ΝΤΑ. The cut-off marks have seen an unprecedented and inexplicable increase, causing undue stress and hardship to genuine candidates”.

All India Students’ Union (AISU) filed a complaint with the Lokpal of India regarding the “rampant corruption and malpractice in NEET UG 2024 exam and result declaration despite paper leak”. “Despite concrete evidence and arrests made by state police forces, the NTA has deliberately ignored these leaks, suggesting collusion within the organization." 

There are a total of 1,08,940 MBBS seats in 706 medical colleges across the country, as per the data shared by the Union health ministry in February this year. Tamil Nadu has the highest number of 5,275 MBBS seats in government medical colleges, followed by Maharashtra government medical colleges which offer 5,125.

Karnataka deputy chief-minister DK Shivakumar alleged ‘foul play’ in NEET results 2024 and asked why the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the National Testing Agency (NTA) are ‘quiet’ about the matter. The NEET UG 2024 result affects the future of 24 lakh students who wrote the exam.

The National Testing Agency (NTA) clarified recently that 1,563 students were compensated for the loss of time during the NEET exam. As per the NEET results 2024, a total of 44 of the 67 candidates, who secured full 720 marks, bagged the All India Rank (AIR) 1 due to a physics question with two correct answers, it said. 

The Indian Medical Association's Junior Doctors Network has urged for a CBI inquiry into the alleged NEET 2024 result irregularities and has also called for a re-examination.

The Congress party in Kerala has demanded a thorough investigation into reported irregularities surrounding the NEET UG 2024 results. Leader of ppposition V D Satheesan has voiced significant apprehensions regarding the genuineness of the examination. He highlighted that 67 students attained perfect scores, with eight of them originating from the same examination center.

Several NEET aspirants and parents are protesting against the NTA NEET paper leak and other irregularities in Uttar Pradesh's Meerut. The students are seen carrying placards that read, "We want re-NEET".

NEET aspirants protesting in Meerut. (Source: X/

@Indian__doctor

The NTA declared NEET results 2024 on the day of the general elections results were announced, which is 10 days prior to the initial exam results announcement date of June 14. Several stakeholders highlighted a noticeable resemblance in the roll numbers of the students who obtained NEET ranks between AIR 62 and 69 from the common exam center in Haryana. 

Since its inception, the Tamil Nadu government has opposed National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test (NEET). The Tamil Nadu government appointed a committee, headed by former High Court Justice AK Rajan, to assess the NEET-based admission process. The AK Ranjan panel reported that the "NEET UG exam's flawed approach favours the CBSE, facilitates a stringent coaching system, and overlooks the social and economic realities of Indian society by assuming that students come from the same level playing field".

The NTA has been conducting the NEET since 2016. This year, the NEET exam 2024 was held on May 5 for over 24 lakh candidates. Controversy sparked over inflated marks for about 1,500 students, allocation of grace marks, and irregularities after result declaration.  

“We condemn the blatant mismanagement of the NEET by the NTA, which has adversely affected over 2.4 million candidates due to negligent handling. We urge the investigative committee to conduct a comprehensive examination of the NEET management and call upon the Education Ministry to promptly devise a fair and effective solution to rectify this pressing issue,” the ChintaBar, an independent student body recognised by IIT Madras on NEET controversy.

The Supreme Court tagged the plea filed by several on NEET controversy and asked the NTA to file the response in the meantime. The plea alleged that NEET-UG, 2024, was riddled with malpractices as various instances of paper leaks have come to the knowledge of the petitioners. "The alleged paper leak was violative of Article 14 (right to equality) under the Constitution as it gave an undue advantage to some candidates over others who chose to attempt the examination in a fair manner," the petition read. 

READ - Supreme Court refuses to stay NEET counselling, seeks NTA’s response on paper leak, grace marks

With 67 students scoring top percentile in NEET results 2024, the NEET cut-offs for all categories increased this year. Check category-wise cut-off percentile and marks here. 

Advocate J Sai Deepak told ANI: "Multiple petitions have been listed in the Court. Some of the petitions were filed before the declaration of results on the basis that there had been a leak of the paper itself. Notices have been issued in regard to those petitions. Our petition is slightly different. We represent Alakh Pandey, who has collected signatures from about 20,000 students which clearly shows that close to about 70 to 80 marks have been awarded in grace marks randomly to at least 1,500 students. We are challenging the arbitrary award of grace marks. The court has indicated that our matter will also be taken up with the other matters but the court is clear that it will not stay the counselling process at this stage..."

The Supreme Court has sought a response from NTA by July 8, however, it has refused to stay the counselling process for admission into MBBS, BDS, other UG medical courses. 

Alakh Pandey, CEO, of Physics Wallah, says: "There was a hearing of the case particularly listed before the results. Here the students were demanding justification on the grounds of the paper leak only but not about the grace marks or anything else, because it was listed on 1st June before results. Our PIL will be listed tomorrow. It is regarding the paper leak as well as the grace marks, the transparencies of NTA and everything else. For today's listing, the Supreme Court said that the sanctity of the exam is compromised that means somewhere they also feel that there have been some kind of issues in the examination and asked NTA to answer this before 8 July but they have not given any relief on the counselling..."

The Supreme Court has refused to stay NEET UG counselling, which is scheduled to start from June 12. However, it has sought response from the National Testing Agency (NTA). 

The NTA declared the NEET results 2024 on June 4. A total of 67 candidates have bagged NEET AIR 1 with 99.997129 percentile score. Immediately after the declaration, students questioned about the grace marks and high cut-offs. Following this, the NTA issued a clarification stating that the grace marks were awarded to compensate for loss of time faced by a few students during the exam. The normalisation formula was devised and adopted by the Hon'ble Apex Court, vide its Judgment dated 13.06.2018, was implemented to address the loss of time faced by the candidates, it said.

After Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi questioned the irregularities and accountability of the NTA, the testing agency clarified: “Regarding the viral video featuring Ms Ayushi Patel, claiming discrepancies in NEET (UG) 2024 scoring and receiving of the torn OMR answer sheet, NTA clarifies that no torn OMR answer sheet was sent via an official NTA ID. OMR answer sheet is intact and scores are accurate as per official records. Candidate should download scorecards only from the website.” 

Several irregularities were reported hours after the declaration of NEET results 2024. Hours after the NEET UG results were announced, candidates demanded clarification on how some students got 718 and 719 marks out of 720. The NTA replied: “The loss of examination time was ascertained and such candidates were compensated with grace marks. So, candidate's marks can be 718 or 719 also.” They further expressed their doubts about the NEET toppers with the same sequence of roll numbers getting highest marks in NEET exam. NEET paper leak, wrong question papers, torn OMR sheet were some of the issues reported by the students.  

Physics Wallah's CEO Alakh Pandey, in a latest tweet, posted: "Going to the Supreme Court with our advocate Sai Deepak today at 10:30 am, to get our petition against NTA mentioned. I believe in the court and our judiciary system. Our students will get justice."

Several students groups, including Students' Federation of India (SFI), All-India Students’ Association (AISA), Jawaharlal Nehru University Students Union (JNUSU), staged protest yesterday at the ministry of education urging to scrap the National Testing Agency (NTA) citing irregularities in NEET results 2024.

SFI students protesting outside the ministry of education against NEET 2024 discrepancies. (Image: SFI)

A lawyer representing 10 candidates requested the Supreme Court to urgently list their writ petition challenging the NEET results 2024 over alleged question paper leak, grace marks, and 67 candidates bagging the perfect score. The candidates have also sought the top court to direct NTA to hold re-exam. 

READ - NEET Controversy: Lawyer urges SC to list plea challenging results; seeks NEET ‘paper leak’ probe

"Advocate J Sai Deepak mentions a fresh petition challenging the NEET results. Justice Vikram Nath asks him to mention before the Registry and says it will be routed through the Chief Justice," the Live Law reported.

The NEET results 2024 have sparked massive controversy this year. Recently, in a press conference, the NTA director general announced that a four-member panel has been set up to review grace marks given to 1,563 candidates to make up for “loss of time” during the exam. Besides grace mark issue, the NEET cut-offs have also risen this year as 67 students topped the medical entrance exam prompting students to demand for re-exam. 

A fresh petition was filed in the Supreme Court seeking cancellation of NEET UG exam 2024 citing paper leak allegations and discrepancies in the results. 

The Supreme Court will hear today a petition seeking cancellation of NEET UG results 2024. The petitioners have also requested the court to direct NTA to conduct re-exam due to paper leak allegations.