New Delhi:
NEET-UG exam results are to be published in their entirety – cross-referenced by city and centre – by noon Saturday, the Supreme Court told the National Testing Agency – which is under-fire over allegations of leaked question papers and violation of marking protocol – on Thursday afternoon.
The identities of the students will, however, remain masked, the court instructed the NTA.
The court’s order followed a day of intense arguments over a clutch of petitions seeking a repeat, or cancellation, of the qualifying examination for undergraduate medical courses in the country. The original exam – attended by nearly 24 lakh aspiring medical professionals – was held on May 5.
The results were published last month but students could only access their individual scores.
The order to publish followed a plea by the petitioners. They argued that making the scores public would increase public confidence in the NTA. Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, appearing for the exam agency, opposed the request on grounds the test results were students’ private property.
“Entire results are never published… they are the personal property of students,” Mr Mehta reasoned, but the court seemed unimpressed, stating, “We the NTA to publish marks obtained by students in NEET-UG 2024 exam, while ensuring the identity of each student is masked.”
The order to breakdown these results by city and centre was also opposed by the NTA.
The three-member bench led by Chief Justice DY Chandrachud overruled this point too.
“…the fact is there was a leak in Patna (in Bihar) and Hazairbagh (in Jharkhand). Question papers were disseminated. We want to find out if this was confined to those centres or widespread…”
“Students are at a handicap because they do not know the results. We want the students’ identity to be masked…. but let us see, centre-wise, what was the mark pattern…” the court explained.
The court, however, was unwilling to defer counselling for selected students.
Counselling, i.e., assigning selected students to medical colleges, is expected to begin Monday.
