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New Delhi: A view of the Supreme Court (SC) of India, in New Delhi, Friday, July 12, 2024. SC on Friday granted interim bail to Kejriwal in a money laundering case linked to the alleged excise policy scam. (Photo: PTI)
The Supreme Court on Friday pointed out the “flip-flops” of the National Testing Agency (NTA) in the conduct of the undergraduate National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test 2024 and asked the Centre’s high-level committee to review NTA’s operations and recommend reforms.
“The Centre has to restructure the whole process of the NEET through the high-powered committee. It has to see to it that we do not have further such examples in the future,” Chief Justice Chandrachud told the Centre and NTA, represented by Solicitor General Tushar Mehta.
“The NTA must avoid the flip-flops it has done in this case. These flip-flops of the NTA do not serve the interests of the students,” Chief Justice of India said.
The court delivered its detailed judgement, ruling that there was an absence of sufficient material indicative of any widespread breach of sanctity in the National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test-Undergraduate (NEET-UG) 2024 exam that could justify cancelling the exam.
The court has expressed ‘serious concerns’ about how the National Testing Agency (NTA) conducted the examination this year. In its detailed order, the three-judge bench led by Chief Justice of India D Y Chandrachud highlighted multiple issues in the exam’s administration, which led them to their conclusion.
“It is no excuse to say that the exam is conducted in myriad centres or that a large number of aspirants appear for the exam. NTA has sufficient resources at its disposal. It has adequate funding, time, and opportunities to organise exams such as the NEET without lapses of the kind that occurred this year,” the bench said in its judgement.
The bench added that a body such as NTA, which is entrusted with immense responsibility in relation to highly important competitive exams, cannot afford to misstep, take an incorrect decision, and amend it at a later stage.
“All decisions must be well-considered, with due regard to the importance of the decision… flip-flops are an anathema to fairness,” the bench added.
To address the structural flaws in the conduct of the exam, the apex court expanded the remit of the high-level committee constituted by the Centre last month to consider developing standard operating procedures (SOPs) to incorporate technological advancements.
“By identifying and rectifying vulnerabilities, such a committee will help restore trust in the examination system and implement robust safeguards to prevent future malpractice,” it explained.
The court also ordered the committee to review and recommend updates to NTA’s policies and SOPs to align with best practices, ensuring the agency is prepared to tackle evolving challenges in examination security.
Given the expanded scope of the committee’s work, the Supreme Court extended the deadline for the submission of its report to the Union Ministry of Education from August 22, as initially set by the Centre, to September 30.
The order comes after the Supreme Court had dismissed pleas seeking cancellation and re-test of the controversy-ridden medical entrance exam in its interim order last month.
The demand for cancellation stemmed from allegations of malpractices, mass question paper leaks, and cheating in this year’s NEET-UG taken by over 2.3 million candidates for admissions to MBBS, BDS, AYUSH, and other related courses.
First Published: Aug 02 2024 | 8:29 PM IST
