Supreme Court Seeks Disclosure from Government and NTA on NEET-UG Counselling Status

The Supreme Court has directed the Union Government and the National Testing Agency (NTA) to take a policy decision on the status of counselling for the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test-Undergraduate (NEET-UG) 2024, which was conducted on May 5 this year. The court’s order comes as a batch of petitions challenging the exam is still pending, with the counselling process scheduled to commence on July 6.

The court’s bench, comprising Chief Justice DY Chandrachud and Justices JB Pardiwala and Manoj Misra, passed the order after hearing Solicitor General Tushar Mehta and Advocate Naresh Kaushik. The court emphasized the need to segregate students who benefited from the question paper leakage from those who did not, stating that otherwise, a re-test would be necessary to maintain the sanctity of the entire exam.

The court sought disclosure from the government and NTA on several aspects, including the modalities to be followed between the exam date and the commencement of the counselling process. Specifically, the court asked what steps would be taken to identify any further beneficiaries of the question paper leakage and whether counselling should proceed in the meantime.

Solicitor General Tushar Mehta requested that the order not record the government’s stance on this issue, and the Chief Justice modified the order to read “a considered decision at the policy level would have to be taken by the government on the status of counselling”.

The court also expressed concerns about the measures that should be taken to ensure the sanctity of the NEET exam in the future and prevent similar incidents from occurring. Chief Justice Chandrachud suggested that the government consider setting up a multi-disciplinary team consisting of renowned experts to ensure that adequate measures are taken to prevent future breaches.

The court has listed the matter for further consideration on July 11. The case, Vanshika Yadav v. UOI, W.P.(C) No. 335/2024, and connected matters, is ongoing.

The court’s order has deferred the counselling process, which was scheduled to commence on July 6. The exact date for the commencement of counselling will be determined once the government and NTA take a policy decision on the status of counselling.