The National Testing Agency (NTA) is expected to release a revised merit list for the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET-UG) within two days, following directives from the Supreme Court. Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan announced this update on Tuesday, soon after the court’s decision concerning the medical entrance exam.
The Supreme Court’s ruling, which dismissed petitions seeking the cancellation and retesting of NEET-UG 2024 due to allegations of paper leaks and irregularities, has provided relief to the government. However, the updated merit list could cause dissatisfaction among candidates due to potential changes in the number of toppers.
A student from Haryana expressed concern: “Why should candidates suffer again when the option they had ticked was considered right at the time of evaluation and marks were given to all for the same? The confusion was on the part of the exam conducting agency, not the students, who will have to bear the burden of someone else’s mistake.”
The Supreme Court confirmed that there was no evidence of a “systemic breach” in the exam’s integrity and instructed the NTA to declare results based on the correct answer to a disputed physics question. A report from IIT-Delhi identified option 4 as the sole correct answer, contradicting the NTA’s initial key that marked both options 2 and 4 as correct, which had led to an inflated number of toppers.
Chief Justice of India (CJI) DY Chandrachud explained, “Initially, the answer key by NTA showed the second option to a question as the correct answer. However, after representations were taken into account, both option 2 and 4 were considered correct answers. IIT Delhi’s director, leading a three-member committee, has submitted a report stating option 4 was the correct one. The NTA will re-tally the results based on the correct answer as per the IIT-Delhi report.”
During a press conference after the court’s decision, Pradhan emphasized the government’s stance on exam integrity: “If anybody is found involved in exam irregularities, they will not be spared. There is zero tolerance for any kind of breach. The sanctity of any exam is supreme for us.”
This interim verdict, favorable to the ruling BJP, which had faced criticism over the exam’s conduct, comes ahead of a detailed order. The NEET-UG, the country’s largest entrance exam with over 24 lakh registrations, will see its merit list revised according to the Supreme Court’s observations.
