A vacation bench of Justices Vikram Nath and SVN Bhatti also sought responses from the parties on separate pleas filed by the NTA seeking the transfer of some pending petitions from the high courts to the apex court.
The bench posted these pleas for hearing on July 8.
One of the petitions, filed by 20 students who appeared in the medical entrance exam, also sought a direction to the NTA and others to conduct the test afresh.
While hearing separate pleas concerning the National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test (Undergraduate)-2024 examination, the apex court had on June 18 said even if there was "0.001 per cent negligence" on the part of anyone in the conduct of the examination, it should be thoroughly dealt with.The NTA conducts the all India pre-medical entrance test.
While hearing separate petitions raising grievances over the NEET-UG 2024, the apex court had last week sought responses from the Centre and the NTA on a plea for a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) probe into allegations of question paper leak and other irregularities in the exam.
A day after the UGC-NET was cancelled, Education Ministry officials Thursday said no complaints were received about the exam but a suo motu action was taken on the basis of inputs available with them to protect students’ interest.
Education Ministry Joint Secretary Govind Jaiswal said the details of the inputs cannot be shared as the matter has been referred to the CBI and is currently under investigation.
“No complaints were received but the inputs we received from agencies indicated that the integrity of the exam has been compromised. The action was taken suo motu to safeguard interests of the students,” he said.
“A fresh date for the exam will be announced soon,” Jaiswal told reporters.
The ministry on Wednesday cancelled UGC-NET conducted by the National Testing Agency following inputs that the integrity of the examination may have been compromised.
The decision by the Ministry comes amid a massive row on the medical entrance exam NEET over alleged irregularities, with the issue now before the Supreme Court.
An aspirant from Bihar has admitted to receiving the leaked question paper through his uncle, a Junior Engineer.
In his confession letter, Anurag Yadav (22), a resident of Bihar’s Samastipur, said his uncle Sikandar Prasad Yadavendu, an engineer deployed at Bihar’s Danapur Town Council (Danapur Nagar Parishad), asked him to return from Kota in Rajasthan, saying all arrangements for the exam had been done.
"I returned from Kota and was taken to Amit Anand and Nitish Kumar by my uncle on the night of 04.05.24, where I was given the NEET exam question paper and answer sheet, which I was made to study and memorize overnight, " said Anurag.
Breaking: Anurag Yadav (22) from Samastipur confessed to receiving leaked NEET papers through his uncle, a Junior Engineer.
He said, "I returned from Kota and was taken to Amit Anand and Nitish Kumar by my uncle on the night of 04.05.24, where I was given the NEET exam question… pic.twitter.com/ELgIe6MyUr
The Ministry of Education on Wednesday cancelled the UGC-NET 2024 (University Grants Commission-National Eligibility Test) held on Tuesday in different cities of the country after inputs suggested that the process of "the conduct of examination may have been compromised", adding that the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has been tasked to probe the matter.
The UGC-NET on June 18 was conducted by the National Testing Agency (NTA) in two shifts.
Meanwhile, the Ministry of Education also said on Wednesday night that in the matter pertaining to the NEET-UG 2024, the issue related to grace marks has already been addressed.
As regards certain irregularities alleged in the conduct of the examination in Patna, a detailed report has been sought from the Economic Offences Unit of Bihar Police.
