The decision to award grace marks to 1,563 candidates of National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test-Undergraduate (NEET-UG), 2024, by National Testing Agency (NTA) is withdrawn, the Centre told the Supreme Court on June 13.
The students, who were given grace marks to compensate them for loss of time due to delay in starting the examination at certain centres., will be given the option to take a re-test, the Centre said in the court. The court recorded NTA’s submission that the re-exam would be likely held on June 23. The results would be declared on June 30.
The affected 1563 candidates will be informed of their actual scores without compensatory marks. The results of their re-examination would be declared on their actual marks. No compensatory marks would be given to them for the re-examination. The marks obtained in the May 5, 2024, exam would be discarded.
The re-examination/declaration of results would be done to not affect the counselling session scheduled on July 6. A Vacation Bench of Justices Vikram Nath and Sandeep Mehta disposed of the petition on the issue of grace marks. On allegations of question paper leaks, etc, the court directed NTA to file its response in two weeks. The court had earlier, while hearing another petition filed by 10 candidates, scheduled the hearing on July 8.
The Supreme Court heard as many as three petitions, including the one filed by the chief executive of EdTech firm Physics Wallah’, pertaining to the controversy-ridden NEET-UG, 2024 for admission to MBBS, BDS and others courses.
The examination was held by the NTA on May 5 across 4,750 centres and around 24 lakh candidates took it. The results were expected to be declared on June 14 but were announced on June 4, apparently because the evaluation of the answer sheets got completed earlier.
The allegations such as question paper leak and the grant of grace marks to over 1,500 medical aspirants have led to protests and filing of cases in seven high courts as also the Supreme Court.
As many as 67 students scored a perfect 720, unprecedented in NTA’s history, with six from a centre in Haryana’s Faridabad figuring in the list, raising suspicions about irregularities.
Scores of students protested in Delhi on June 10 seeking a probe into alleged irregularities. It has been alleged that grace marks contributed to 67 students sharing the top rank.
The NEET-UG examination is conducted by the NTA for admissions to MBBS, BDS, AYUSH and other related courses in government and private institutions across the country.
