THE Supreme Court on Thursday sought responses from the Centre, the National Testing Agency (NTA) and others on a slew of petitions, including those seeking scrapping of the NEET-UG 2024 exam and a court-monitored probe, amid mounting outrage over alleged irregularities in conducting the all-India medical entrance test. The apex court also stayed further proceedings on similar pleas pending before different High Courts. The top court, however, made it clear that it will not stay the counselling process.

 

A vacation bench of Justices Vikram Nath and SVN Bhatti issued notices to the parties seeking their responses on four separate pleas filed by the NTA seeking transfer of some pending petitions, including those claiming paper leak, from High Courts to the apex court. As the bench issued notices on the NTA’s petitions, the counsel appearing for the testing agency urged it to stay the related proceedings before different high courts. “Issue notice returnable on July 8,” the bench said, adding, “In the meantime, further proceedings before the high courts shall remain stayed.” It also dealt with several other petitions including the one filed by 20 aspirants who are seeking scrapping of the exam held on May 5. These 20 petitioners, represented by advocate Dheeraj Singh, have also sought a direction to the NTA and others to conduct the test afresh. The bench said all the pleas would be heard on July 8.

 

The bench, while refusing to stay the counselling exercise, said, “All this has been argued from day one and they (some petitioners) have been wanting stay of counselling. We have denied that.” “Ultimately, if all of you succeed, everything will go. The examination goes and the counselling will also go,” the court told the petitioners, one of whom sought deferment of the counselling until after July 8. When the bench asked the NTA’s lawyer about the counselling, he said it will start on July 6 and continue for a few more days. The bench also issued notices to the Centre and the NTA seeking their responses on a plea by Sorting Hat Solutions Pvt Ltd, which operates a platform for education services under the name ‘Unacademy’, seeking constitution of an independent committee to scrutinise the alleged irregularities and discrepancies in the results of NEET-UG 2024.

 

The company, in its plea filed through advocate Sumeer Sodhi, has also sought a direction to the NTA to furnish statistical data to back the methodology used to ascertain the ‘time-loss’ for candidates who were awarded compensatory marks. During the arguments, another counsel informed the bench that a person has been arrested in Bihar in connection with the probe into alleged irregularities. The lawyer said FIRs have been lodged in Bihar and Gujarat over alleged irregularities and police should be asked to submit status reports on their investigations in the two states.