NEET-UG 2024 Row: Supreme Court Issues Notices on NTA's Pleas Seeking Transfer of High Court Cases

Exam Irregularities and Malpractice Allegations Prompt Legal Battles

The Supreme Court has taken a significant step in the ongoing NEET-UG 2024 controversy by issuing notices on petitions filed by the National Testing Agency (NTA) seeking the transfer of cases pending before the Rajasthan High Court to the top court.

The apex court is already seized of a batch of petitions seeking the recall of NEET-UG 2024 results and a fresh examination, alleging widespread paper leaks and other malpractices in the test held on May 5.

Transfer Petitions Filed by NTA

The NTA has approached the Supreme Court, seeking the transfer of the pending cases in the Rajasthan High Court to the top court, in a bid to consolidate the legal proceedings and obtain an authoritative ruling on the matter.

The bench, led by Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud , agreed to issue a notice in the transfer petitions and ordered them to be tagged with the main batch of NEET-UG related cases, which are scheduled for a hearing on July 18.

High Court Proceedings Stayed

When the NTA's counsel, Advocate Vardhaman Kaushik , requested the court to stay the proceedings before the Rajasthan High Court, the Supreme Court clarified that in a transfer petition, the High Courts typically do not proceed with the matter once the top court has issued a notice.

"In Transfer, the High Court normally doesn't proceed," the CJI stated during the hearing.

The petitions pending in the Rajasthan High Court, in which the Supreme Court has now issued notices, include:

1. National Testing Agency Versus Durgesh Raj And Ors. (T.P.(C) No. 001741 - / 2024)
2. National Testing Agency Versus Tanuja Yadav (T.P.(C) No. 1735/2024)
3. National Testing Agency Versus Yashasvini And Ors. (T.P.(C) No. 1730/2024)
4. Aarushi Singh Versus National Testing Agency And Ors. (W.P.(C) No. 449/2024)
5. National Testing Agency Versus Anshu Choudhary (T.P.(C) No. 1737/2024)

Previous Transfer Petitions and Stay Orders

It is worth noting that the Supreme Court had earlier, on June 14, issued notices in similar transfer petitions filed by the NTA. Those petitions sought the transfer of pleas challenging the award of grace marks and the alleged paper leak concerning the NEET exam from the Delhi High Court to the top court.

Subsequently, on June 20, the Supreme Court had stayed the proceedings pending before various High Courts pertaining to the alleged NEET-UG paper leak and tagged all the petitions with the main matter.

Ongoing NEET-UG Controversy

The Supreme Court is currently hearing a batch of petitions that seek the cancellation of the NEET-UG 2024 results and the conduct of a fresh examination. The petitioners have alleged widespread malpractices, including paper leaks, in the conduct of the exam.

The court has indicated that its primary focus is to determine the extent of the irregularities and whether the wrongdoers can be segregated from the innocent students, without disrupting the future of the 23 lakh candidates who took the exam.

Government's Affidavit and IIT Madras Analysis

In a recent development, the Centre has filed an additional affidavit in the Supreme Court, stating that data analytics conducted by the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Madras found no indication of "mass malpractice" or a localized set of candidates benefiting from it and scoring abnormally high marks.

The government's assertion assumes significance in light of the observations made by the Supreme Court on July 8, where the bench had indicated that it may order a re-test if there were large-scale malpractices in the conduct of the exam.

As the legal battle over the NEET-UG 2024 exam continues, the Supreme Court's decision to issue notices on the NTA's transfer petitions and the ongoing hearings will be crucial in determining the future course of action and the fate of the medical aspirants.