On Friday, the Supreme Court directed the Central Government and the National Testing Agency (NTA) to address and resolve the issues encountered with the National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test (NEET UG) 2024 to prevent similar problems in future examinations.

A Bench comprising Chief Justice of India (CJI) DY Chandrachud and Justices JB Pardiwala and Manoj Misra emphasized that the NTA should avoid inconsistencies regarding the safety of strongrooms where question papers are stored and the allocation of compensatory marks.

"We have said that NTA must now avoid the flip flops which has happened now because it does not serve well. These issues such as rear door being kept open in strong room etc, then granting compensatory marks, then grace marks which led to 44 getting 720/720. We have highlighted all errors of NTA and thus committee should identify and rectify these. These issues which have arisen must be rectified by the Union of India this year itself so that it is not repeated," the Court said pronouncing its judgment in the case relating to NEET UG 2024.

However, the Court reiterated that there was no systemic breach in the NEET UG 2024 exam beyond Hazaribagh and Patna. As a result, no retest will be required for this year's examination.

The observations were made in the judgment where the Court denied the plea for a re-examination of NEET UG 2024. On July 23, the Court had already refused to order a re-test, stating that the evidence presented did not demonstrate any widespread question paper leaks. The alleged leaks were found to be limited to a few students, who could be distinguished from those unaffected. The detailed judgment explaining these reasons was pronounced today.

Admissions to medical colleges nationwide for undergraduate courses are based on NEET UG scores. This year's NEET-UG exam faced allegations of extensive question paper leaks and cheating, leading several candidates to petition the Supreme Court for a re-examination. Conversely, some students argued against a retest. The Central Government and the NTA strongly opposed any re-test, asserting that the leak was confined to a limited number of candidates rather than being widespread.

Senior Advocates Narender Hooda, Sanjay Hegde, Bikash Ranjan Bhattacharya, Santosh Paul, Amit Anand Tiwari, Sudhanshu Choudhari, PV Dinesh, Thomas P Joseph, and A Hariprasad appeared for the students.

Solicitor General Tushar Mehta appeared for the Union government.

Senior Advocate Naresh Kaushik appeared for the NTA.