Author: Kavidharani R, a student at Presidency University
From Leaks to Legal Battles; The Fight for Integrity in NEET-UG 2024
LEGAL JARGONS:
- Petition : A formal written request to a court, seeking a specific legal action.
- Affidavit : A written statement confirmed by oath or affirmation, submitted as evidence to the court.
- Bench : A group of judges sitting together to hear a case, often led by a senior judge.
- Sanctity : The quality of being regarded with great respect and reverence, especially in the context of the examination’s integrity.
- Criminalisation : The process of making certain actions or behaviors illegal and subject to criminal penalties.
- Integrity : The quality of being honest and having strong moral principles, crucial for the fairness of examinations.
- Sanctity of Examination Process : The inviolability and integrity of the examination process, ensuring it is free from corruption and dishonesty.
- Grace Marks : Additional marks awarded to students to help them pass an exam.
- Status Report : A report provided to the court detailing the current status and progress of an investigation or case.
- Malpractice : Improper, illegal, or negligent professional activity or behavior, particularly in the context of examinations.
- Data Analytics Report : A report based on the analysis of data, often used to identify patterns or irregularities.
- Re-Test : Conducting an examination again due to identified irregularities in the initial test.
- Protest : A formal declaration of objection, typically by students or political parties in this context.
- Controversy : A prolonged public dispute or debate concerning a matter of opinion, such as the allegations of a paper leak.
ABBREVIATIONS:
NEET : National Eligibility cum Entrance Test
NTA : National Testing Agency
SC : Supreme Court
CBI : Central Bureau of Investigation
IIT : Indian Institute of Technology
ISRO : Indian Space Research Organisation
UG : Undergraduate
The possibility of student academic dishonesty in higher education systems has come into serious focus during the last several years what with the variety of options available to academic dishonesty on which students can base their acts. Scenario examples of cheating are contract cheating and assessment questionnaire (AQ) leaks. Today, among the practices of universities that use data mining an array of recruitment analytics to select students, India’s only medical course examination, the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET-UG), is a major event attracting millions of participants. But with this increase in the total number of participants, comes the question, what factors may have led to this phenomenon?
Besides, the situation of question papers getting leaked has become one of the irregularities that compromise the accuracy and reliability of the examination, besides this being very sensitive. Globally, cheating has been the most common practice of students in the universities, and such action has been the use of different technological aids and the cooperation among the students. These actions not only throw away the legitimacy of the assessment programs but also the ethical standards of students. It is alarming especially in medicine where honesty and reliability are of utmost importance.
The mere moral concern of penalizing academic dishonesty in the medical sector is a feature of it, as then you expect the one who cheats to later exhibit unethical behaviors in their profession. The new technologies have facilitated more and more complex ways of cheating. They are as such the main stumbling block to the higher educational institutions’ efforts to prevent the dishonest conduct during their assessments. In order for university administrators and regulatory bodies to. See to it that new and unsuspected ways of cheating have been adopted, they must also come up with good policies or the like to prevent this Behaviour that they want changes in. What happened during the NEET-UG exam series were several rumours of the examination papers leaking before the exam, the reports are so high that those involved were arrested and court actions were taken against them. All such actions will act as a kind of threat to the people that want to violate the law in the future and they will have to follow the rules that are again the right way to do the question papers. Still, it is necessary to have both the prevention and the detection components of question paper leas comprising security reinforcement, supervision at the exam centres and efficient execution of the examination process.
Managing exam is intricate with various ethical issues surrounding it. All stakeholders, including instructors, test givers and students among others should be ethical and responsible to keep the integrity of examination system . Addressing root causes of examination malpractices such as irresponsibility among some students and poor study culture can help mitigate the risks posed to quality and integrity of higher education.
Therefore, criminalizing paper leakages is a step towards ensuring fair competition and reliability in NEET-UG exams. Nevertheless, there needs to be a well-rounded solution that tackles the wider ethical-structural problems in the management of exams if India’s medical education system is to retain trust over time.
Supreme Court to Hear Petitions on NEET-UG 2024 Exam Leak:
On Thursday July 11, 2024, numerous petitions are expected to be heard by the Supreme Court of India which dwell on allegations of examination malpractices and paper leaks in connection with National Eligibility Entrance Test-Undergraduate (NEET-UG) 2024. It was presided over by Justice Arun Mishra. There were only thirty-eight petitions that had been filed on this issue.
Allegations of Paper Leak and Malpractices:
The NEET-UG 2024 exam has been at the center of a big scandal involving question paper leakage and alleged marks added through grace. These claims have led to countrywide agitations by students’ organizations and political parties.
The petitioners argued that the test’s security was breached as they claimed that the leaked questions papers were shared through such social media platforms like Telegram or WhatsApp. The petitioners sought for re-examination on the grounds that the sanctity of the examination has been lost.
Government and NTA’s Response:
Separately, both the NTA and Union Government filed their affidavits before the Supreme Court to oppose retest of the exam as requested in the petitions. The government maintained that this would “hinder, rather than advance” efforts to improve quality of education and therefore ruin careers of thousands of hardworking students.
It is stated in an affidavit of government referring to a data analytics report from IIT Madras that NEET-UG 2024 marks followed a normal distribution curve indicating that there was no systemic cheating or unfair advantage given to certain groups.
The NTA has countered this in an affidavit where it denies wide-scale paper leakage but insists social media videos on test questions are fake and manipulated. Additionally, 47 candidates are claimed by the agency to have indulged in suspicious OMR sheet activities and paper leaks.
Supreme Court’s Observations and Directives:
The Supreme Court noted during the last hearing on July 8 that the NEET-UG 2024 exam was spoiled by leaked questions. Chief Justice D.Y. Chandrachud led a Bench which observed “certain red flags” including an unprecedented number of 67 candidates scoring perfectly with a score of 720/720.
In addition, the Court ordered NTA to provide information about the exact time and way through which this paper was leaked and also duration between leak to actual exam date. The Bench also directed the central government to file affidavits detailing their responses on the NEET-UG 2024 examination crisis as well as sought for a report from CBI concerning progress made in investigating the allegations that arose.
Balancing Fairness and Logistical Challenges:
However, the Supreme Court has cautiously refrained from directing that the entire NEET-UG 2024 examination be re held, taking into account the logistical difficulties and ramifications on careers of the 23 lakh students who wrote the exam.
The Chief Justice, Chandrachud said that we must establish how far-reaching and extensive was this paper leak. If for example it is not propagated through social media extensively by groups, then there may be no need for a re-test. But if it was widespread especially through electronic means, then an order might have to be made to call for a fresh test in order to preserve fairness and sanctity of the process.
Ongoing Investigations and Reforms:
The present CBI inquiry into alleged malpractices in the NEET-UG 2024 examination came to the attention of the Supreme Court. The Court asked for a report on the status of investigations from CBI.
Further, Union Government apprised the Hon’ble Court that it has constituted a high-powered committee comprising experts to be headed by Dr. K. Radhakrishnan, former Chairman of ISRO to suggest measures for NTA to adopt transparent, efficient and equitable examination system. This committee is expected to recommend comprehensive test reforms and restructure NTA in order to strengthen data security protocols and optimize organizational processes.
Legal Implications and Consequences:
There will be a lot of major legal implications for the medical education space in India depending on the Supreme Court’s ruling in the NEET-UG 2024 case. In case that there is an order for re-test, it will mean that the process of admission will take longer than expected and finally interfering with academic plans of those students affected.
But if court upholds examination results, it may come up against legal challenges from aggrieved losers who accused malpractices. Moreover, this ruling would have some bearing on consequent NEET-UG exams and credibility of National Testing Agency.
Besides, these CBI investigation directives by the Court as well as reforms proposed by this higher-level committee might further result to more stringent measures being put into place to safeguard future NTA examinations integrity
Conclusion:
The Supreme Court’s hearing on the NEET-UG 2024 exam controversy is a crucial legal issue which will affect the medical educational sector in India. The Supreme Court will base their ruling on fairness, ethics and the necessity to safeguard the academic future of lakhs of students who participated in this examination.
Given that, as far as this case progresses, the court should keep in mind both concerns raised by petitioners regarding logistical problems and its impact on greater public good. As a result, what happens after this case will define what shape NEET-UG exams takes and how credible it becomes an examination system in the country.
FAQ’s
Q1. What exactly does NEET-UG mean?
Ans: NEET-UG is the only test to enrol in undergraduate medical courses all over India .
Q2. Why are there some controversies about NEET-UG 2024 exam?
Ans: Allegations of question paper leak and grace marks have thrown up questions on how fair the exams really are.
Q3. What steps have been taken in response?
Ans: There are petitions filed before the Supreme Court demanding a retest, while it has directed NTA and CBI to look into them.
Q4. Is there any position from NTA or government on re-test demand?
Ans: They are against it as they believe that it will interfere with many students’ academic careers and that official data does not show evidence of widespread malpractices during exams.
Q5. How did the Supreme Court react?
Ans: The Court raised some red flags such as excessive perfect scores, asking NTA and CBI for detailed reports .
Q6. What steps can be taken to avoid future violations, if any?
Ans: A committee headed by Dr.K.Radhakrishnan will suggest ways of having fair tests which include improved management of data, security for examination etc.
