Signing you in

The Supreme Court was informed on Friday that Prime Minister Narendra Modi was personally supervising the NEET-UG cancellation, following a paper leak.

PM Modi told the council of ministers to ensure that work was not stalled and delivery remained quick. (AFP)The submission was made by Solicitor General Tushar Mehta after the apex court sought a response from the government in an affidavit detailing how and in which manner the process and conclusion of the leak probe would be done.

“Honourable Prime Minister is personally supervising,” Solicitor General Tushar Mehta told the court, according to LiveLaw.

During the hearing, Justice Pamidighantam Sri Narasimha asked the Centre about how much monitoring of implementation has happened and the reason behind the leak.

The court said that the youngsters should not be disappointed in this way, adding “It's very traumatising so much investment of emotions and time.” The court also cited the example of UPSC in conducting examinations.

“Despite high powered committee if this incident happened, there is something wrong with the original recommendation or there is no proper implementations,” Justice Narasimha questioned.

“It is actually very traumatic if something like this happens, not just for the students, but also their families and everybody. They invest so much emotion,” the bench added.

Solicitor General Tushar Mehta told the court that new mechanisms have been put in place for NEET-UG exam scheduled on June 21.

The remark comes after the Supreme Court on Friday heard a batch of petitions challenging NEET-UG cancellation conducted by the NTA. The court asked the Centre to file affidavit and posted the matter for hearing in second week of July.

On May 12, the NTA cancelled the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (Undergraduate), or NEET, held on May 3 for medical admissions amid allegations of paper leak. The paper leak allegations are under investigation by the CBI.

A re-examination has been scheduled for June 21. Earlier in 2024, after the questions of NEET-UG were allegedly leaked, the Supreme Court had refused to cancel the test but passed various directions aimed at tackling paper leaks and also a criterion for cancelling public exams.