After the Supreme Court ruled on July 23 that there will be no retests for the NEET-UG examinations which were marred with serious allegations of widespread paper leak, aspirants find themselves in a state of uncertainty.
Sunil Singh Charan, a NEET-UG candidate from Jodhpur, Rajasthan, says he will "have to abide by the judgement" but feels that the NTA could have conducted the entrance examination in a more foolproof manner.
"Now that the Supreme Court's verdict is out, we'll have to abide by it," he says. But he argues: "Though I agree with the judgement that there is no substantial proof of mass leak of the question papers, but the fact remains that there is no substantial proof that the paper was not leaked beyond just a few centres either."
A dejected Charan who says taking the entrance exam in 2025 is the only choice left for him also asks for accountability from the National Testing Agency (NTA). “NTA should ensure such leaks do not happen in 2025 as well. They should rather stick with a prelim examination and a mains examination to filter out students.”
“Such a system will also ensure paper leaks do not happen,” the 20-year-old says, explaining: “The JEE is held in a similar format and we never come across events of paper leaks in engineering entrance examinations.”
19-year-old Om Prakash from Bihar echoes the same sentiments. “I’m very disappointing with the verdict and the overall education system,” he says, asking, "what choice do we have now except for taking the examination again next year?"
On July 23, the Supreme Court ruled against conducting fresh examinations for NEEET-UG, citing potential "complications for over two million candidates".
A three-judge bench headed by Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud ruled that there was 'no substantial proof of systematic breach' in the conduct of the medical entrance examinations for the undergraduate aspirants.
"The data on record is not indicative of a systemic leak of the question paper which would indicate a breach in the sanctity of the exam," the bench, also comprising Justices JB Pardiwala and Manoj Misra, observed.
On the controversy around the Physics question, some students have been left wanting more.
For a particular question, the National Testing Agency declared both Option 1 and Option 4 as the correct answer. A Supreme Court-directed panel, formed by the IIT Delhi and comprising of three Physics professors from the varsity, later advised the court that only Option 4 was the correct answer.
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Ved Sushil Shinde, who had secured 720 out of 720 marks in the initial results, would lose five marks after the Supreme Court verdict. "Option 1 is correct according to the old NCERT book, while Option 4 is correct as per the new curriculam," Ved argues. "Not everyone has access to the new book," he says, adding, "Even in the past the NTA has awarded marks as per the syllabus even if experts have opined that the answer is not correct."
Earlier on July 23, while delivering the verdict, the CJI categorically stated that only Option 4 was the correct answer after he received the report from an IIT Delhi panel.
"We have received the IIT Delhi report. The IIT Director Rangan Banerjee...constituted a committee from the Department of physics and they say a team of three experts examined the question. They say that the option four is the correct answer," the CJI said, adding "the option four, which says the 'Statement I is correct but Statement II is incorrect' is correct".
This avoidable development, according to media reports, will likely impact 44 candidates, whose ranks could drop by at least 88 spots.
