NEW DELHI: Results of the final session of Joint Entrance Examination (Main) this year are expected on schedule despite a controversy that erupted after it emerged that at least one of the examination centres may have been manipulated and its devices hacked. Talking to this newspaper, Union higher education secretary Amit Khare said the CBI investigation will have no impact on the results expected within a week, even though the results of one particular centre may be withheld. “The ongoing case and investigation will have no bearing on results but the National Testing Agency may take a decision on withholding the result of this particular centre (facing charges of irregularities),” Khare said.
The fourth session of JEE was held on August 26, 27, 31 and September 1, 2. Nearly 7.8 lakh students had taken the test online. The NTA is likely to release results of this test on September 10 along with the final rank cards for all four sessions held this year.
On Friday, CBI had arrested seven persons, including two directors and four employees of a Noida-based educational institute, in connection with irregularities in the entrance test, which is also the first stepping stone for admission into the Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs).
As per the FIR registered on Thursday, the accused were manipulating the online examination of JEE (Mains) and facilitating aspirants to get admission to top NITs (National Institute of Technology) in return for a huge amount by solving the question paper of the applicant through remote access from a chosen examination centre in Haryana.
“It was also alleged that the accused used to obtain 10th and 12th marksheets, user IDs, passwords and post-dated cheques of aspiring students in different parts of the country as security and once admission was done, they used to collect a heavy amount ranging from `12 lakh to `15 lakh per candidate,” CBI spokesperson RC Joshi had said. The issue was also raised by senior Opposition leaders, including Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi, who accused the Union government of covering up the matter.