NEW DELHI: The petitioners told the Supreme Court on Monday that the NEET-UG exam was held, without following any procedures and was "a complete systemic failure," with "no address verification and no CCTV camera monitoring" at any of the locations.
"In this exam, there was a complete systemic failure. No address verification.. there was no CCTV camera monitoring at any of the locations.. there has been a live monitoring they say.. but I demolish it by saying that a wrong question paper was distributed in Sawai Madhopur and there was no surveillance.. it was on social media they got to know about the wrong question paper." senior lawyer Narendra Hooda, appearing for the petitioners told the three-judge bench, led by the Chief Justice D Y Chandrachud.
Hooda told the Supreme Court that the investigation by Bihar police have found that the leak happened on May 4, prior to the deposit of question papers in the respective banks.
"The statements of the accused indicate that the students gathered to memorize the question paper on the evening of May 4 and that means leak happened before May 4," the apex court said.
Hooda further argued that the manner of conducting the entire exam was brittle that it did not inspire confidence and that at every stage there was a possibility of leak.
"They admit that there was a leak, they admitted that dissemination happened on WhatsApp," he said.
Hooda also pointed out that while the NTA published centre wise results of the exam, complying with the court's direction, all India ranks were not given. Exam centre wise seriatim was also not published, he noted.
Supreme Court is hearing a batch of petitions by students who have appeared in the National eligibility cum entrance test (NEET UG) on May 5 and have sought re-test and proper investigation into the alleged paper leak.
There are more than 50 petitions -- including students, various educational institutions -- filed in the case. A group of 20 students, who had appeared in the medical entrance exam, also sought a direction for scrapping of the NEET-UG 2024 exam and an apex court-monitored probe by the CBI (Central Bureau of Investigation) or any other independent agency into the alleged irregularities in the test.
One of the petitioners, Rajan, who had taken the medical entrance exam, filed the plea in the top court and alleged that his OMR sheet was swapped.
The NEET-UG examination, conducted by NTA, is the process for getting admitted into MBBS, BDS, AYUSH and other related courses in government and private institutions across the country.
The hearing is underway as other petitioners are arguing in the top court.
