During the Monday proceedings in Supreme Court, the National Testing Agency (NTA) acknowledged the allegations charged against it, stating that the issues occurred but on a minor scale. The agency said, “All of this happened at the miniscule level. CBI is probing it.”

Meanwhile the court said, “If the the sanctity of the examination has been lost, if we are not able to identify candidates who are guilty of wrong-doing, a retest has to be ordered,” reported Bar and Bench.

On Monday, the Supreme Court is hearing over 30 petitions concerning the NEET-UG 2024 medical entrance exam controversy. These petitions include allegations of irregularities and malpractices during the May 5 examinations.

A bench comprising Chief Justice DY Chandrachud, along with Justices JB Pardiwala and Manoj Misra, is also addressing a separate plea from over 50 successful Gujarat-based NEET-UG candidates. These candidates are seeking to prevent the Centre and the National Testing Agency (NTA) from canceling the exam amidst controversy.

NEET-UG 2024 exam: Supreme Court observes that one thing is clear that leak (of question paper) has taken place. The question is, how widespread is the reach? The paper leak is an admitted fact. pic.twitter.com/qyfZQESMsx

— ANI (@ANI) July 8, 2024

Petitioners’ lawyers argued for the exam’s cancellation, citing issues such as paper leaks, OMR sheet manipulation, impersonation, and cheating.

However, they argued against canceling the test, stating that only a “miniscule” number of students were involved in the alleged malpractices. They emphasized that the interests of the 23 lakh students who took the examination honestly should not be jeopardised.