NEET-UG exam: Retest only if 'sanctity' lost on large scale, says SC

NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Thursday said that the retest of the NEET-UG exam can be only done if the "sanctity" of the test held on May 5 was "lost on a large scale" as a result of leaked questions.

A bench headed by Chief Justice DY Chandrachud heard a batch of petitions on Thursday. The central government and the National Testing Agency (NTA), which conducts the examination, have informed the court that there is no need for re-examination.

The NEET exam which was held on May 5 was the subject of controversy. The government and NTA argued that the question paper has not been leaked nationwide. The NTA submitted an affidavit that the question papers were leaked in Patna in Bihar and Godhra in Gujarat. The CBI's status report has identified Hazaribagh in Jharkhand as the source of the leak. The court said that if there is convincing evidence about widespread irregularity, a re-examination will have to be conducted.

At the same time, the petitions submitted by the Malayali students objecting to re-examination were also listed before the Supreme Court. Students point out the difficulties they had been through for the exam. The petitions said that re-examination would be unfair and violative of fundamental rights.