“The manner in which the NTA organised the exam this year gives rise to serious concerns… NTA has sufficient resources at its disposal. It has adequate funding, time, and opportunities to organise exams such as the NEET without lapses of the kind that occurred this year,” Chief Justice of India D.Y. Chandrachud, who authored the verdict, criticised the agency.
The three-judge Bench headed by Chief Justice Chandrachud directed the Centre, acting through its high-powered committee headed by former Indian Space Research Organisation Chairperson K. Radhakrishnan, to recommend and implement top-to-bottom overhauling of the exam process, including rectifying “serious security lapses”, introduce data protection measures, periodic audits, surprise inspections of exam centres, grievance redressal mechanisms for students and foolproof logistics while specifically highlighting how question papers were transported in e-rickshaws during NEET-UG 2024.
The Supreme Court on Friday pronounced a scathing judgment calling out the “flip-flops” of the National Testing Agency (NTA) in the conduct of the undergraduate National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test 2024 and put the government on a deadline to completely restructure the exam process.
“The manner in which the NTA organised the exam this year gives rise to serious concerns… NTA has sufficient resources at its disposal. It has adequate funding, time, and opportunities to organise exams such as the NEET without lapses of the kind that occurred this year,” Chief Justice of India D.Y. Chandrachud, who authored the verdict, criticised the agency.
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The three-judge Bench headed by Chief Justice Chandrachud directed the Centre, acting through its high-powered committee headed by former Indian Space Research Organisation Chairperson K. Radhakrishnan, to recommend and implement top-to-bottom overhauling of the exam process, including rectifying “serious security lapses”, introduce data protection measures, periodic audits, surprise inspections of exam centres, grievance redressal mechanisms for students and foolproof logistics while specifically highlighting how question papers were transported in e-rickshaws during NEET-UG 2024.
Grace marks
The court pointed to how the NTA initially gave 1,563 students grace marks after realising that they were allotted the wrong question paper, and then later decided to withdraw their scores and conduct a re-test.
“A body such as NTA which is entrusted with immense responsibility in relation to highly important competitive exams cannot afford to misstep, take an incorrect decision, and amend it at a later stage... Flip-flops are an anathema to fairness,” the court chastised.
The Chief Justice said the mishaps orchestrated by the NTA was a “luxury students cannot afford”.
“The Centre has to restructure the whole process of the NEET through the high-powered committee. It has to ensure that we do not have further such examples in the future,” Chief Justice Chandrachud addressed counsel for the Centre and NTA led by Solicitor General Tushar Mehta.
The court directed the Radhakrishnan committee to submit its report to the Ministry of Education by September 30, 2024. The Ministry has to take a decision on the committee’s recommendations within a month thereafter and implement the plan of action. The government has to file a compliance report in the court.
