On Thursday (18th July), the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), looking into the NEET paper scam case, detained 3 doctors from the Patna AIIMS for questioning. This is hours before the court hearing slated in the Supreme Court today. According to the reports, all 3 detained doctors are from the 2021 batch. The CBI have reportedly sealed their rooms and taken their laptops and phones into custody.
The doctors’ detainment came a day after the CBI detained two additional people for allegedly stealing question papers for the National Testing Agency’s (NTA) medical entrance exam. The accused, Pankaj Kumar and Raju Singh, were arrested from Patna, Bihar, and Hazaribagh, Jharkhand, respectively.
Pankaj Kumar is a member of the paper leak gang, and he allegedly stole the NEET-UG question papers with Raju’s help. On Wednesday, July 17, a special court in Patna sentenced Pankaj Kumar to 14 days in CBI detention and Raju to 10 days.
The CBI has so far arrested nine people concerning the NEET paper leak case. It holds custody of 13 additional accused, including Rocky alias Rakesh Ranjan, the man in charge from Bihar.
On Thursday, July 18, the Supreme Court will hear several petitions related to the controversial medical entrance test. The top court put off the hearing of the arguments, including those seeking cancellation of the examination, re-testing, and an investigation into alleged malpractices in the conduct of NEET-UG 2024, to July 18. This was done because several parties had not yet received responses from the Center and the NTA.
The sanctity of the NEET-UG 2024 was breached according to the Supreme Court. The bench had asked for details from the NTA and the CBI, including the timing and manner of the suspected paper leak, and had stated that a re-test may be ordered if the entire process was impacted. The Court also inquired about the number of wrongdoers to determine the scope of the irregularities asserted by the petitioners.
Meanwhile, both the Centre and the NTA have submitted new affidavits to the Supreme Court. According to the Center’s affidavit, data analysis of the NEET-UG 2024 results undertaken by IIT-Madras revealed no evidence of “mass malpractice” or a specific set of students benefiting from it and getting unusually high marks.
According to the affidavit, undergraduate seat counseling for 2024-25 would take place in four rounds beginning in the third week of July. The NTA’s affidavit, filed along identical lines, stated that it conducted an examination of the distribution of marks at the national, state, and local levels.
The exam authority stated that the higher marks received by some NEET candidates were “not a systematic failure”. It further stated that the decrease of about 25% in the syllabus helped hopefuls do better in the medical entrance exam. Today, a bench consisting of Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud and Justices JB Pardiwala and Manoj Misra will hear over 40 petitions related to the NEET-UG row.
The CBI, which is investigating the alleged anomalies in the medical entrance exam, has filed six FIRs. The FIR from Bihar is about a paper leak, while the others from Gujarat, Rajasthan, and Maharashtra are about candidate impersonation and cheating. The agency’s own FIR on a referral from the Union Education Ministry refers to a “comprehensive investigation into the alleged irregularities in the NEET-US 2024.”
The NTS administers the NEET-UG for admission to SARIS, OAS, MUSH, and other similar courses at both government and private institutions. This year’s exam was held on May 5th in 4,750 centers in 571 locations, including 14 outside India. More than 23 lakh applicants appeared for the test.
