The Supreme Court on Thursday issued a notice to the National Testing Agency (NTA) regarding alleged irregularities in NEET-UG 2024. This follows a petition by Xylem Learning, a learning app, which claimed “inconsistent” calculation of marks on the OMR sheets.
During the hearing, the bench criticized coaching centers, stating they have “no role to play.” Justice Bhatti remarked, “This is one of the reasons where we see this role played by the coaching centres, bagpipers. They have hardly any role to play. Their obligation and duty…if they have discharged their service that is the end of the matter.”
A vacation bench comprising Justices Manoj Misra and SVN Bhatti sought a response by July 8, when the court will address this case along with other related NEET-UG petitions.
Xylem Learning’s petition also raised concerns about the provision of OMR sheets to students, alleging that several students did not receive them. The bench requested the NTA’s response regarding the timeline for providing OMR sheets to students.
“Let us know if there is a timeline to provide the OMR sheets. As of now we will tag it. Let NTA seek instructions on this,” the court noted, tagging the petition with others for July 8.
Meanwhile, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has launched investigations into several cases related to the alleged irregularities and malpractices in the NEET-UG scam. The cases span multiple states, and numerous individuals have already been arrested in connection with the controversy.