Supreme Court seeks details of NEET question paper safeguards; Centre to file affidavit

The Centre on Monday said it wants to place on record before the Supreme Court the process adopted with safeguards right from printing the NEET question paper till the students get it. A bench of Justices P S Narasimha and Alok Aradhe was told by Solicitor General Tushar Mehta that the government wants to explain the methodology adopted and place it on record by way of an affidavit. Mehta sought time for hearing on Thursday or Friday. The bench told Mehta that it would also like to know the process and posted a batch of pleas seeking additional safeguards for NEET questions papers for hearing on Thursday. Mehta said that the affidavit will be filed during the course of the day. NEET UG Live updates.

On July 27, a plea of Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) leaders said it will see what the Nandan Nilekani-led high-powered task force formed by the government suggests on the online conduct of the NEET examination. It had said some out-of-the-box suggestions were needed, especially when the transition is made from the physical mode to the online conduct of the NEET examination. Mehta, appearing for the Centre, had then informed the bench that the Union government has taken a very serious view on repeated question paper leaks and a high-level committee has been constituted. He said an announcement was made by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the high-level committee is headed by Nandan Nilekani, who is an expert in the field of technology. Giving further details, Mehta said besides Nilekani, other members of the task force are former ISRO chairman S Somanath, former Intelligence Bureau director Tapan Deka, IIT Chennai Director V Kamakoti, former education secretary Anita Karwal and logistics expert Amrit Lal Meena.

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Centre to submit affidavit

Similarly, on June 24, the top court told the Centre that it will closely monitor the steps taken to curb NEET examination paper leaks, while underlining that ad hocism has caused trouble for years. It was hearing a batch of petitions, including one by the Federation of All India Medical Association (FAIMA). It told Mehta that the government should indicate the steps taken towards transparency, implementation of recommendations of the Radhakrishnan Committee and how the IIT model would be followed. Earlier, the seven-member Radhakrishnan Committee was set up by the Ministry of Education in the wake of the NEET-UG paper leak to make recommendations on reforms in the examination process, improvement in data security protocols and the structure and functioning of the National Testing Agency (NTA). One of the pleas sought a direction to replace or restructure the NTA, which is responsible for conducting NEET-UG, with a robust and autonomous body to conduct the medical entrance examination.

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Mehta said there are some developments and the government will file a detailed report on a comprehensive overhaul of the examination process, which may be beyond the recommendations of the Radhakrishnan Committee. "Students' futures can't be jeopardised. We are going beyond the Radhakrishnan Committee. I assure you that the government is walking 10 extra miles. I can assure you everything is being supervised at the highest level," he had submitted. Advocate Tanvi Dubey, appearing for FAIMA, had then sought a detailed blueprint of the standard operating procedure (SOP) concerning the computer-based test (CBT) model that will be implemented by the NTA for the NEET-UG examination from next year. On May 29, the top court stressed that the real problem relating to the medical entrance examination National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (Undergraduate) or NEET-UG would not stop until "actual accountability arises".

Mehta had then submitted that the government was seriously concerned about the youths and Prime Minister Modi was personally supervising the situation so that "there is no lacunae". The top court had noted that Dr K Radhakrishnan, former ISRO chairman working in an honorary capacity as the chairman of the high-powered steering committee on NTA reforms, had also filed an affidavit indicating the implementation of the recommendations of the committee and the future course of action. On May 12, the NTA cancelled NEET-UG held on May 3, amid allegations of paper leak. The retest was held on June 21. The paper leak allegations are under investigation by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI). After questions of NEET-UG were allegedly leaked in 2024, the top court had refused to cancel the test, but passed various directions aimed at tackling paper leaks and also a criterion for cancelling public exams.