Even if there is 0.001% negligence, should be thoroughly dealt with: SC to NTA

New Delhi: Supreme Court on Tuesday while hearing pleas in relation to NEET-UG 2024, tells the Union and the National Testing Agency (NTA) that "even if there is 0.001% negligence on the part of anyone, it should be thoroughly dealt with.

SC further said "Children have prepared for the exam, we cannot forget their labour."

"Imagine a person who has played fraud on the system becomes a doctor, he is more deleterious to the society," SC orally tells NTA, Union.

The National Testing Agency (NTA) is an autonomous and self-sustained testing organization established by the Ministry of Education (MoE), Government of India.

The Centre and the NTA had on Thursday told the top court that they had cancelled the grace marks given to 1,563 candidates who took the examination for admission to MBBS and other such courses.

They will have the option to either take a retest or forgo the compensatory marks awarded to them for the loss of time, the Centre had said.

The examination was held on May 5 across 4,750 centres and around 24 lakh candidates took it. The results were expected to be declared on June 14 but were announced on June 4, apparently because the evaluation of the answer sheets got completed earlier.

There have been allegations of question paper leaks in states like Bihar and the other irregularities in the prestigious exam.

The allegations have led to protests in several cities and filing of petitions in several high courts as also the Supreme Court. Scores of students protested in Delhi on June 10 seeking a probe into alleged irregularities.

As many as 67 students scored a perfect 720, unprecedented in the NTA's history, with six from a centre in Haryana's Faridabad figuring in the list, raising suspicions about irregularities. It has been alleged that grace marks contributed to 67 students sharing the top rank.

The NEET-UG examination is conducted by the NTA for admissions to MBBS, BDS, AYUSH and other related courses in government and private institutions across the country.