Supreme Court with observation that NEET may have to be cancelled; July 8 crucial

NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court has observed that the situation is such that the NEET exam that was conducted may have to be cancelled since very serious revelations including question paper leak has come out. This was indicated by the vacation bench which considered the related petitions. A bench appointed by the Chief Justice will hear all the petitions on July 8 after the vacation. Justice Vikram Nath said that there is no point in preventing the re-examination as there is a situation to cancel the main examination that was conducted on May 5.

The bench refused to interfere with pleas seeking postponement of re-examination by NTA on Sunday and medical counselling to begin on July 6 for 1,563 candidates. The position of the government also is that the counselling will be done. Rejecting the request not to allow counselling, Justice Bhatti pointed out that it was only a continuation process. The court had said that the admission process is subject to final judgment. Meanwhile, a march by the Congress in Delhi to protest against the NEET and NET irregularity resulted in clashes. This happened when the police stopped the march led by Delhi PCC president Devender Yadav to the BJP headquarters.

Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan cancelled the Yoga Day program of Delhi University where students are protesting due to examination irregularities. The explanation is that the program scheduled for 6 am was cancelled due to urgent work.

Bihar Police looking for main leaders

Bihar Police says that a big mafia with nationwide connections is behind the NEET question paper leak. The Economic Offenses Wing has extended its investigation to neighbouring states. Police are looking for Atul Vatsay and Anshul Singh, who are believed to be the main players. The search is on for the accused Sanjeev Singh, a native of Nalanda, who is also an accused in question paper leak cases that have happened before. If they are caught, it can be known how the question paper, which is handled by NTA with high-security systems, was leaked. The police believe that the question paper cannot be leaked without the knowledge of the NTA top brass.

Net question paper; price up to 6 lakhs

It was found that the cancelled UGC NET exam question papers were sold on Telegram channels for up to Rs.6 lakh. Telegram informed that these channels have been blocked following the instructions of the central government. Students say that the questions are priced between Rs 1 lakh and Rs 6 lakh. Mafias associated with dark web networks are behind it. CBI has started an investigation.