NEET UG 2024 SC Hearing Live: Supreme Court adjourns NEET case to July 18; latest news

As per the copy of the affidavit seen by Careers360, the centre shared the city-wise top rankers in NEET UG 2024 and said that the IIT Madras data shows Sikar, Kota, and Kottayam are leading the toppers list which is attributed to coaching centres in these places. The union government stressed on the fact that in Patna, where CBI is carring out probe into the NEET paper leak case, the number of toppers has reduced. No significant spike in the number of toppers can be seen in any city, as per the data. 

NEET UG 2024: City-wise toppers. (Image: Table from copy of affidavit submitted by Centre in Supreme Court). 

In an additional affidavit filed in the Supreme Court, the Centre said that there was neither any indication of "mass malpractice" nor a set of candidates from a particular area being benefitted leading to abnormal scores in NEET UG 2024. It said the data analytics of NEET UG results 2024 was conducted by the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Madras. As per the copy of the affidavit filed by centre, the city-wise NEET UG toppers 2024 are shown in the image below. 

NEET UG Toppers 2024: City-wise analysis by IIT Madras. 

The Supreme Court will now hear the petitions seeking cancellation of the National Eligibility Entrance Test (NEET) UG 2024 and retest on July 18. The CJI-led bench has adjourned the NEET case till next Thursday. 

The Supreme Court bench led by CJI DY Chandrachud initially posted the NEET UG 2024 matter for first thing tomorrow, July 12, but adjourned the pleas till Monday, as per Live Law. However, the Solicitor General (SG) Tushar Mehta reportedly cited difficulties for Monday and Tuesday and mentioned that Wednesday is a holiday (Muharram) following which the CJI posted the hearing for next Thursday, July 18. 

Following the NEET controversy, the Ministry of Education (MoE) on June 22 handed over the matter to the CBI for probe into the alleged irregularities and paper leak in the medical entrance exam held on May 5. The Central Bureau of Investigation has arrested 11 persons in NEET case so far with the recent arrests of two people in Patna and one in Maharashtra. Earlier, six persons in Bihar, one each in Latur and Godhra and one from Dehradun were taken into custody in connection with NEET paper leak case, alleged manipulation, and general conspiracy. 

The Supreme Court is currently hearing item number 33 while NEET UG 2024 case has been listed as item number 43, as per Live Law. After hearing the NEET case, the top court will decide whether NEET 2024 will be cancelled and re-test will be announced for everyone. Based on NEET verdict, the National Testing Agency (NTA) will take further actions including announcement of re NEET 2024 exam date (in case it's announced). 

The NEET AIQ closing ranks of MBBS courses in government medical colleges, as per past trends are as follows:

Read More: NEET UG 2024: Want to study MBBS? Know AIQ cut-offs for top government medical colleges

The Centre in its affidavit submitted to the Supreme Court on Wednesday said that NEET UG counselling 2024 process will begin from the third week of July. The NEET counselling will be held in four rounds, it informed. The counselling process for MBBS, BDS, AYUSH admissions includes registration, choice-filling, seat allotment, and reporting. 

The Supreme Court is yet to hear NEET UG 2024 case and announce its verdict on the matter. The bench led by chief justice of India DY Chandrachud will hear petitions seeking cancellation of NEET UG 2024, re-exam, alleged paper leak, and no retest today. The NEET case has been listed as item number 43, as per Live Law. NEET 2024 for undergraduate was held on May 5 for around 24 lakh candidates and NEET results 2024 were declared on June 4. 

NEET Supreme Court hearing today. (Image: Wikimedia Commons)

The NEET UG 2024 case has been listed as item number 43 and the Supreme Court is hearing item number 18 currently, as per a Live Law report. 

A total of 813 candidates appeared for re NEET conducted for candidates with grace marks on June 23. A total of 1,563 such students were scheduled to take the exam. 715 aspirants skipped the NEET retest. 

The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has arrested two more persons, including a NEET UG 2024 candidate, from Patna in connection with the alleged NEET paper leak case, as per a PTI report. NEET UG 2024 aspirant Sunny from Nalanda and father of another NEET 2024 candidate Ranjit Kumar from Gaya have been arrested, CBI informed. 

The National Testing Agency (NTA) in an affidavit filed in the Supreme Court submitted that the Telegram video on NEET paper leak has been doctored and is fake, as per a Live Law report. The exam agency told SC that the timestamp of the video allegedly showing paper leak was edited and discussions within the channel showed that the group members declared the video as fake. 

During the last hearing on NEET case, the Supreme Court sought details on the timings of the NEET paper leak and the duration between paper leak and commencement of exam. The National Testing Agency (NTA) admitted that paper leak did happen at one place, to which SC responded that if the leak happened a day before the exam then the number of beneficiaries could be large, however, if the question paper leaked on the exam day, the extent would be less. The bench led by CJI DY Chandrachud observed if the sanctity of NEET-UG 2024 is "lost" and the question paper leak has been propagated through social media, then a re-test has to be ordered.

The National Testing Agency (NTA) conducted NEET UG re-exam 2024 for 1,563 candidates who were awarded grace marks on June 23. 813 candidates appeared for the retest held at 7 examination cities.

The Coaching Federation of India (CFI) recommended the establishment of an education task force to examine the irregularities before the leak and suggested that the National Eligibility Entrance Test (NEET) exam should be held twice. 

This year's NEET UG exam for MBBS, BDS admissions has been marred by controversy over alleged paper leak, irregularities, large number of toppers, declaration of result before scheduled date, and grace marks. 

Read More: NEET was far from fair even before this year's grace marks, paper-leak controversies

NEET SC hearing today: NEET controversy this year. 

The Supreme Court is scheduled to hear NEET case today. The court will hear a batch of petitions filed by candidates, parents, coaching institutes, and more. Several candidates are seeking cancellation of NEET results 2024 declared on June 4 and re-exam for all candidates. This would mean that over 24 lakh aspirants will have to appear for the medical entrance exam again. 

NEET UG counselling 2024 for UG and PG admissions will be notified on the basis of exam completion and finalisation of seat matrix by the National Medical Commission (NMC), the union health ministry recently said, adding that the Medical Counselling Committee (MCC) has not yet notified the NEET counselling schedule 2024 for the upcoming academic session.

 From student protests and court cases to cancellation of results and re-exam, this year’s NEET exam has been marred by controversies. The Supreme Court will hear NEET case today and announce its verdict. The top court will hear over 30 petitions on alleged paper leak and 50 on no retest. 

NEET 2024: Paper leaks, arrests, online exam, student protests, Parliament debate; the story so far

Scrapping NEET exam would not be a rational step and “seriously jeopardise” lakhs of honest candidates who attempted the exam without using unfair means, the Centre told the Supreme Court recently. In response to a batch of petitions filed by candidates, coaching institutes and parents of the NEET-UG aspirants, the Union Ministry of Education said the government has asked the CBI to conduct a probe into the alleged irregularities.

Read the chronology of events in NEET UG 2024 case in the link given below.

Chronology of events in NEET UG 2024 case

NTA conducted re NEET on June 23 and announced NEET UG 2024 re-exam results on July 1. The number of NEET 2024 toppers dropped from 67 to 61. 750 students who skipped the re-exam will have to accept their original scores before the addition of grace marks, as per NTA’s decision based on expert committee's recommendations. 813 candidates out of 1,563 affect appeared for the re-exam. 

NEET Supreme Court hearing today: Re NEET among demands. (Image: Wikimedia Commons)

• The ministry of health clarified that the Medical Counselling Committee (MCC) will announce the NEET UG counselling dates likely by July-end on the basis of exam completion and finalisation of the seat matrix by the National Medical Commission (NMC).
• Opposition leaders are demanding NEET re-exam for all candidates and an SC-monitored probe into the alleged paper leaks.
• The centre recently told the top court that scrapping NEET would not be a rational step and jeopardize lakhs of aspirants who took exam without using unfair means.
• The union government is reportedly considering the possibility of conducting NEET in online mode from the next academic year.
• Congress leader Rahul Gandhi wrote to Prime Minister Narendra Modi requesting a debate on the NEET issue in Parliament.
• The education ministry handed over the NEET matter to CBI for an investigation into the alleged paper leak and irregularities. The probing agency has made arrests in Gujarat and Bihar so far.

The union government in an affidavit filed on July 10 denied any 'malpractice' in NEET UG 2024, as per a PTI report. In an additional affidavit, the centre said that the data analytics of NEET results 2024 was conducted by IIT Madras and as per the experts' findings, the distribution of marks follows a bell-shaped curve which indicates no abnormality, as per the report. 

The NEET case has been listed as item number 43 in the Supreme Court hearing, as per a Live Law report. 

The Supreme Court will announce its decision on NEET UG 2024 case today, July 11. The court will be hearing over 38 petitions filed by aspirants over alleged paper leak and re-test along with 50 separate pleas seeking directions to the centre and the National Testing Agency not to conduct re NEET. 

A bench of chief justice of India DY Chandrachud and two justices hearing the NEET case on July 8 asked the lawyers of all petitioners, asking for a re-test, to give one consolidated set of submissions not exceeding 10 pages to the court. The Supreme Court sought information from the National Testing Agency (NTA) and the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) about timing of the question paper leak and duration between the leak and the actual exam. While the court asserted that NEET paper leak did happen, it said that the extent of question paper leak and the beneficiaries have to be ascertained before ordering of a re-exam for all. 

The Supreme Court will hear the National Eligibility Entrance Test (NEET) UG 2024 matter today, July 11. The top court on Monday heard petitions over alleged paper leak, irregularities, and re-test.