Supreme Court Closes NEET-UG 2024 Paper Leak Case; Centre to Implement Reforms
Abhishek Patel
07/04/2025
Table of Contents
The Supreme Court’s Ruling
On April 7, 2025, the court’s compliance monitoring bench comprising of Justices PS Narasimha and Joymalya Bagchi scrutinized reports of compliance as well as additional documentation by Solicitor General Tushar Mehta relating to updates given by the government. The court ascertained that no further directives would be issued and dismissed the case.
The Controversy: What Came Before This Case
In August 2024, the Supreme Court made a decision not to cancel the NEET-UG 2024 examination due to a lack of evidence of systemic leaks or any kind of malpractice which would compromise the integrity of the examination. Nonetheless, the court identified several lapses caused by the National Testing Agency (NTA), which comprised of:
⮚ A breach of security at an examination hall in Hazaribagh, Jharkhand where quite a number of outsiders gained access to the question paper. Participants were provided with the wrong question paper sets.
⮚ The movement of question papers by means of e-rickshaw.
Setting Up the Expert Panel
In view of addressing these issues, the Supreme Court broadened the scope granted to a seven member expert panel led by former ISRO Chief K Radhakrishnan with the aim of studying the operations of NTA and suggest in a detailed manner changes which were necessary to add transparency and protect against malpractice in the NEET-UG exam.
The members of the panel were:
- Randeep Guleria
- BJ Rao
- Ramamurthy K
- Pankaj Bansal
- Aditya Mittal
- Govind Jaiswal
Detailed Overview of The Reforms
As Proposed by Expert Panel And Accepted by The Centre
The reforms, as recommended by the expert panel and accepted by the Centre, encompass several critical areas:
1. Examination Security and Administration
- Secure Transportation: Employing Secure and Reliable Logistics providers for the transportation of examination materials in place of e-rickshaw transportation.
- Strict Identity Verification: Ensuring impersonation-free identity verifications of registered candidates during examinations at examination centres.
- Comprehensive Surveillance: Installing extensive CCTV surveillance systems to all Examination Centers for monitoring and prevention of possible malpractices.
- Regular Audits and Inspections: Conducting frequent audits and surprise inspections of examination centers to ensure adherence to established protocols and identify any irregularities.
- Enhanced Security Protocols (HSP): Implementing tamper-evident packaging for question papers to prevent unauthorized access
2. Data Security and Technological Enhancements
- Robust Data Protection Measures: Implementing prescribed data security measures for safeguarding the privacy and the integrity of examination data.
- Technological Upgrades: Updating equipment to manage examinations more efficiently by enhancing automation, minimizing human error, and improving the overall ease of conducting exams.
3. Policy and Stakeholder Engagement
- Stakeholders Engagement: Collaboration with other educational and regulatory stakeholders for enhancing the process and examining the effective feedback from the other party for mutual benefit.
- Policy Development: In the examination process, promoting the need for transparency, and fairness while being accountable facilitates policy formulation.
4. International Cooperation
- Global Best Practices: Utilizing global resources for best practices in the conduct and security of examinations. Integrating with international examination bodies for global practices.
5. Student Support Services
- Mental Health Support: Offering adequate resources and support for student’s mental wellbeing to alleviate stress culminated from competitive examinations.
- Training and Development: Providing training to the NTA personnel for effective and ethical management of examinations.
The reforms seek to rectify the issues highlighted in the NEET-UG 2024 examination, restore trust in the evaluation systems in place, and ascertain that subsequent assessments are managed with principles of fairness, openness, and utmost reliability.
Conclusion
The Supreme Court’s decision to close the NEET-UG 2024 paper leak case marks a significant step toward enhancing the integrity and security of national examinations. The implementation of the expert panel’s recommendations is expected to bring about substantial improvements in the conduct of future exams.
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