Petition challenging NEET results filed in High Court

Lokmat News Network

Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar:

A group of local students has filed a petition requesting the Aurangabad Bench of the Bombay High Court for an investigation into the malpractice in the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET) for undergraduate medical courses, on Monday (June 10).

The petition also seeks orders to re-conduct the test at the centres from where the question papers were leaked. The hearing on the petition will be held before the bench comprising Justice Mangesh Patil and Justice Shailesh Brahme on June 18.

The petition has been filed by Nikita Vijay Fandade and three others through Adv Ramrao Biradar. According to the petition, 67 students scored full marks, i.e., 720 out of 720, in the NEET 2024. Out of these, 8 students are from the same centre in Haryana. Last year, only one student had scored 720 marks. This year, 1563 students were awarded additional grace marks.

In this process, the CLAT (Common Law Admission Test) method was used. The students ranked 68 and 69 in the merit list scored 719 and 718 marks, respectively. However, according to the rules of the NTA (National Testing Agency), it is impossible to score 718 or 719 marks because the system has a negative marking scheme. For each incorrect answer there is a loss of 5 marks. At the examination centres where the test started late, the students were awarded additional marks for each minute of delay.

It may be noted that across 571 cities in the country, 24 lakh students took the test at 4,750 centres on May 5, 2024. The test was also conducted in 14 cities abroad. The petition stated that the marking system in this exam is against the established NEET policies.

Petitioner underlined that cases have been registered regarding the leaking of NEET question papers in Bihar, Rajasthan, and Gujarat, and the results were announced while the investigation was still ongoing. Moreover, the results were declared on the same day when the Lok Sabha election results were declared. Earlier, the scheduled date for the results was June 14, but they were announced earlier. Hence all this act is suspicious, stated the petition.