Lagatar24 Desk
New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Monday delved into the controversy surrounding the 2024 NEET-UG exam, scrutinizing a particular physics question, No. 29, alleged to have ambiguous choices. This examination, crucial for admission to undergraduate medical courses, has already been embroiled in allegations of a leaked paper.
The petitioner, who opted not to answer the contentious question and scored 711 out of 720, argued that the ambiguity led to 44 students receiving full marks for the question, thereby scoring a perfect 720/720. The petitioner contended that had the National Testing Agency (NTA) not awarded marks for the question, she would have ranked higher.
The Supreme Court, led by Chief Justice DY Chandrachud, acknowledged the significance of the petitioner’s argument. The bench noted the NTA’s instruction to follow a new edition of the textbook, questioning how students who selected an answer from the outdated textbook could receive full marks.
To address this, the court sought the opinion of a panel of three experts from IIT Delhi, directing them to submit their findings by noon the following day.
The petitioner argued that she could not assume multiple correct answers, particularly with negative marking in play, leading her to leave the question unanswered to avoid losing marks. She cited an earlier judgment to support her request to delete the question.
Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, representing the NTA, defended the decision to award marks for both answers, citing that both were plausible based on the older textbook. However, the petitioner contested this, stating the newer textbook clearly identified ‘option 4’ as the correct answer, while the older one did not.
The NTA further argued that economically disadvantaged students might have studied from older textbooks, unable to afford newer editions. The court, however, was not convinced by this argument, with Chief Justice Chandrachud emphasizing the inconsistency in recognizing two correct answers.
Highlighting the broader implications, the court noted that over four lakh students benefited from the NTA’s decision to accept both answers. This matter will continue to be heard on Tuesday.
The NEET-UG exam, taken by nearly 24 lakh aspiring medical professionals, has faced scrutiny since allegations of a leaked paper surfaced last month. The unusually high number of perfect scores and subsequent discrepancies in re-test results raised further concerns.
An affidavit from the government, based on IIT Madras’ analysis, insisted there was no evidence of mass malpractice. The CBI is investigating the case, with several arrests made, including a key suspect last week.
