India's Supreme Court rules out re-exam for NEET-UG 2024 after no systemic breach found

India's Supreme Court on Tuesday (Jul23)said that it found no systemic breach in the sanctity of the 2024 NEET-UG medical entrance exam conducted two months ago. The top court said thatthere is no material to show that the results of the exam are "vitiated entirely and that there was a systemic breach in its sanctity".

The court also ruled out a re-testforthe2024 NEET-UG exam.

“The Court realises that directing a fresh NEET-UG for the present year would be replete with serious consequences which will be for over 24 lakh students who appeared in NEET… and cause disruption of admission schedule, cascading effects on the course of medical education," Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud said.

"Data on record is not indicative of a systemic leak of the question paper which would indicate a disruption of the sanctity of the exam," the top court said.

Before the Supreme Court order, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) confirmed that the paper leak in the NEET-UG case had indeed occurred in Jharkhand’s Hazaribagh. This is the first time that the central agencyofficially made the claimsince it took over the investigation into the case in June.

NEET controversy: Over 400,000 students to lose 4 marks over contentious question

Over 400,000 students will now lose four marksafter the apex court'sruling on Tuesdaythat only one correct answer from a set of four answers will be valid. This comes after astudent pointed out that "Question No. 29" of the Physics section had two correct answers when it should have only one correct answer.

The students who will lose four marks also include 44 who had scored a perfect 720/720.

The Supreme Court order came after a team of three experts from the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) in New Delhi gave a report and put a question related to atoms and their characteristics to rest.

(With inputs from agencies)