Apex Court directs IIT-Delhi to examine controversial Physics question by Tuesday

New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Monday instructed the Director of IIT-Delhi to form a team of three experts to review a specific Physics question from the NEET-UG 2024 examination and submit a report on the correct answer by Tuesday noon.

This directive came at the end of a day-long hearing on a series of petitions, including those requesting a re-test of NEET-UG due to alleged question paper leaks and other irregularities.

A bench led by Chief Justice D Y Chandrachud asked petitioners demanding a re-test to demonstrate, using data from the National Testing Agency (NTA), that there was a “systemic failure” in the examination’s administration and that the paper leak was “widespread” and not limited to Patna and Hazaribagh.

“How do you establish that the paper leak was all over India?” questioned the Chief Justice.

During the hearing, the bench, which also included Justices JB Pardiwala and Manoj Misra, noted submissions from some aspirants claiming that a Physics question had two correct answers. They alleged that one group of examinees, who provided one of the correct answers, received four marks.

Additionally, it was argued that there were three groups of aspirants: one received minus five marks for the correct answer, another received four marks for a different correct answer, and a third group skipped the question out of either lack of knowledge or fear of negative marking. This discrepancy could significantly affect the merit list, the bench was told.

The bench included the controversial question in its order and stated: “As indicated..., four options were given in the question as framed, and students had to select one option as their answer.”

To resolve the issue regarding the correct answer, the court requested an expert opinion from IIT Delhi. “We request the Director at IIT Delhi to form a team of three experts in the relevant subject. The expert team is requested to provide its opinion on the correct option for the question and submit it to the Secretary General of this Court, preferably by 12 noon on 23 July 2024,” the order stated.

The court also instructed its Secretary General to communicate the order to the IIT Director for “expeditious steps.”

The court clarified that seeking expert opinions on a question does not imply that the requests for cancelling the examination have been rejected.

The court will continue hearing the 40 petitions on Tuesday, including submissions from Solicitor General Tushar Mehta and other representatives of the Centre and the NTA.

Earlier in the day, the bench asked senior advocate Narender Hooda, representing the students, to provide data showing a “systemic failure” in conducting the test.

Observing the lack of evidence to suggest that the leak was widespread, the bench noted some irregularities in Patna and Hazaribagh but found them insufficient to indicate a systemic failure.

Hooda mentioned that the NTA and others admitted to the paper leak and its spread via social media.

At the start, the bench inquired about the city and centre-wise data of results published by the NTA. It also reviewed statements from the accused recorded by Patna police, revealing that the question papers were leaked either on the night of May 4 or the day after the exam.

Hooda claimed the investigation was compromised due to the Centre’s stance.

“Don’t take the name of the Government of India...I am answerable to students, to the court...Please don’t make any such statements,” Mehta responded.

Mehta argued that the NTA had examined the success rates of particular centres, cities, and states allegedly affected by the question paper leak, and found “no abnormality.”

“We have to see if the leak is localised and whether the paper was leaked at 9 am and solved by 10:30 am (on exam day). If we do not believe this, then you have to show us that the leak was beyond Hazaribagh and Patna,” the bench instructed the examinees’ counsel.

The bench highlighted the award of grace marks and additional time to students at three centres in Jhajjar, Haryana.

Hooda pointed out that a school principal in Jhajjar collected question papers from both State Bank of India (SBI) and Canara Bank branches, even though only the papers in SBI’s custody were supposed to be distributed. The principal’s actions came to light after six students from a Jhajjar centre scored 720/720, which the NTA attributed to grace marks compensating for lost time.

The bench asked the NTA to report how many centres distributed question papers from Canara Bank and questioned the authorization process for such actions.

“Providing isolated examples will not establish that this leak was nationwide,” Mehta argued.

Hooda alleged a “complete systemic failure,” citing lack of address verification and CCTV monitoring at exam centres.

Hooda also mentioned a student from Gujarat, who failed the class 12 board exam, but scored highly in NEET after appearing at a Karnataka centre.

“If this court does not consider re-NEET, at least qualified candidates, about 13 lakh people, should be asked to retake the exam,” Hooda suggested.

Senior advocate Sanjay Hegde noted that the leak from Hazaribagh was detected in Patna, but its full extent remained unknown. Investigation reports indicated that some messages reached around 100 people.

More than 23.33 lakh students took the NEET-UG test on May 5 at 4,750 centres in 571 cities, including 14 overseas locations.

The exam is conducted by the NTA for admissions to MBBS, BDS, AYUSH, and related courses in government and private institutions across India.