NEET 2024 Row LIVE: New Petition Filed in Supreme Court, CBI Nabs Two from Patna

Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan on Friday said the government is ready for discussion on NEET row but that should take place as per tradition and by maintaining decorum. “The government is ready for every kind of discussion, but everything should happen following norms and maintaining decorum. The President spoke about the exam in her speech yesterday and it shows the government’s intention that we are ready to face any issue,” Pradhan said outside Parliament.

“It is the Centre’s priority to give equal opportunity to all aspiring candidates. My government is committed to a fair investigation and to punish those behind paper leak incidents,” President Murmu said.

Lok Sabha was adjourned till July 1 after a ruckus emerged as the Congress demanded a discussion on the NEET issue before the Motion of Thanks. The INDIA bloc said that it will raise the issue in the house on Monday. Rahul Gandhi on Friday raised the NEET issue and demanded, along with Opposition MPs, that the matter be discussed.

“We wanted to give a joint message to the students of India, on behalf of Opposition and Government – that we consider this an important issue. So, we thought that to respect students we would discuss NEET today, a dedicated discussion,” said Gandhi.

The Tamil Nadu Assembly on Friday passed a unanimous resolution urging the Centre to exempt the state from NEET and allow it to admit students to medical courses based on class 12 or Plus Two exam marks. The resolution called upon the Centre to amend the National Medical Commission Act and abolish NEET UG taking into account the irregularities and increasing opposition to the test in several states, which toed Tamil Nadu’s line, reported PTI.

Senior JD(S) leader H D Deve Gowda on Friday said the government cannot fix responsibility until the probe in the matter is completed, reported PTI. Gowda said lakhs of students have been affected because of the alleged irregularities in the conduct of the medical entrance exam. “I do not want to take sides. The government has taken the right decision (to order a CBI probe),” the former prime minister said.

Former Rajasthan Deputy CM and Congress General Secretary Sachin Pilot accused the NDA of covering up the NEET scam, which as per him, was the biggest issue in the country. “The government had a stubborn attitude initially, however, later it accepted its mistake. Now, the way the work is being done to cover up the issue is not good,” he said.

The Supreme Court on Thursday expressed reservations over the filing of a writ petition by a coaching institute alleging irregularities in the conduct of the NEET-UG, reported IANS. “What fundamental rights of yours are violated to enable you to maintain a writ petition filed under Article 32 of the Constitution?” asked a vacation bench presided over by Justice Manoj Misra to the senior counsel representing Xylem Learning, a coaching institution providing assistance to NEET students.

The panel chaired by Dr. K. Radhakrishnan, Former Chairman of ISRO, has now sought suggestions, views, and ideas from stakeholders, particularly students and parents to recommend reforms in the agency’s examination process. The suggestions can be submitted between June 27 to July 7, 2024…read more

A new petition has been filed in the Supreme Court regarding NEET UG 2024. This intervention application has been given by two candidates who appeared for the NEET exam. They have given this application against the re-conducting of the NEET UG exam. A petition demanding re-exam was earlier filed by Kritika Garg and Priyanjali Garg. Now, a new plea has been filed stating that the exam should not be conducted again. This will be unfair to most of the candidates, reported Live Law. The applicants from Meerut say that they have achieved 705 and 690 marks based on their hard work and ability.

The proceedings of the Lok Sabha have been adjourned for the day as the opposition demanded a discussion on the alleged irregularities in NEET UG. When the House reassembled at noon, opposition members continued with their demand for a discussion on matters related to the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET). Speaker Om Birla and Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju told opposition members that they could discuss the matter during the Motion of Thanks on the President’s address, reported PTI.

According to PIB Fact Check, the claim that the NTA website has been hacked is “false and baseless.”

A CBI team on Wednesday started interrogating the principal of Oasis School in Hazaribag, Dr Ehsanul Haque, who was the district coordinator of the NEET-UG exam in Hazaribag. For the last 48 hours, CBI has been questioning the principal of the school, sources said. He was taken to a CBI guest house in Hazaribag along with a few other persons…read more

The Supreme Court on Thursday asked the National Testing Agency (NTA) to apprise it whether there is any time limit for raising grievances regarding the OMR sheets provided to the candidates who appeared in NEET-UG 2024, reported PTI.

The Congress’s student and youth wings took to the streets in Delhi on Thursday over alleged irregularities in the conduct of the NEET-UG and UGC-NET exams, reported PTI. NSUI members forcefully entered the NTA headquarters and locked its office, and the IYC protested at Jantar Mantar. The National Students’ Union of India (NSUI) threatened to lock NTA offices across the country if their demand to ban the National Testing Agency (NTA) is not met. Police resorted to lathicharge to disperse the protesters at Jantar Mantar where the Indian Youth Congress (IYC), Left-affiliated All India Students Association (AISA) and Delhi University’s Krantikari Yuva Sangathan continued their indefinite sit-in for the second day on Thursday.

A case was registered by Godhra Police on May 8 against three persons under various Indian Penal Code provisions including criminal conspiracy, cheating and criminal breach of trust for allegedly trying to help 27 candidates clear the NEET-UG by charging Rs 10 lakh each. The Gujarat police had arrested five persons, including the principal and a teacher of a school in Godhra, in these cases, reported PTI. The racket was unearthed after the Panchmahal district collector received a tip-off that some persons were involved in malpractices linked to the exam, as per the FIR registered on May 8 by the Godhra police. Since the tip-off was received in advance, authorities prevented malpractices at the centre (Jay Jalaram School in Godhra) and the exam was conducted without a hitch, the FIR said, the report added.

Physics teacher Tushar Bhatt, school principal Parshottam Sharma, Vadodara-based education consultant Parsuram Roy, his aide Vibhor Anand and alleged middleman Arif Vohra were arrested by police. As per the FIR registered at the Godhra taluka police station on a complaint of the district education officer, Rs 7 lakh in cash were recovered from Bhatt who taught at Jay Jalaram School and was appointed the deputy centre superintendent for NEET in the city. Out of 27 students who had either paid in advance or agreed to pay money to Roy and others, only three were able to clear the exam, according to sources, the report stated. The accused had asked the candidates to solve a question if they knew the answer, and leave the remaining paper blank. The answers of remaining questions were to be filled in by Bhatt when the papers were collected after the exam, as per the FIR.

A CBI team on Wednesday visited two private schools in Gujarat’s Kheda and Panchmahal districts as part of its probe. CBI officials first visited Jay Jalaram International School on Sevaliya-Balasinor highway in Kheda district, and later the Jay Jalaram School at Godhra in Panchmahal district. Both the schools, located 100 km apart, and are owned by Dixit Patel who was later questioned by the agency.

A CBI team on Thursday recorded statements of three candidates and their parents who had allegedly paid an accused for helping them clear NEET UG held at a private school near Godhra in Gujarat. Dixit Patel, owner of the local Jay Jalaram School, at the Godhra circuit house which was one of the exam centres, was also questioned, an official said. A Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) team has been camping in Gujarat for the last four days to probe alleged malpractice during the National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test held on May 5.

Maharashtra’s Anti-Terrorism Squad has arrested the headmaster of a Zilla Parishad school in Latur and a school teacher in connection with a racket to help students who were willing to pay to crack exams.

The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on Thursday arrested two men from Bihar in connection with the probe into the NEET-UG paper leak case. The two accused, identified as Manish Prakash and Ashutosh Kumar, were arrested from Patna. Ashutosh is accused of providing premises where NEET aspirants studied the leaked question paper, while Manish allegedly arranged the paper…read more

According to Dr K Radhakrishnan, who heads the seven-member panel formed by the education ministry, the priority for the committee is to engage with students and parents of the country and elicit their concerns and suggestions on the examination system. “It is our top priority. We are going to engage with them as far as possible in person or through the electronic media. We would like to consolidate this over the next fortnight”, the panel chief said.

“I strongly urge upon you to consider and take immediate steps to restore the previous system of conducting this examination by the state governments and abolish the NEET examination. This will help restore normalcy and confidence of the aspirant students in the system,” Mamata Banerjee said in her two-page letter to PM Modi.

NBEMS is expected to declare the National Eligibility Entrance Test, Postgraduate (NEET PG) 2024 exam date next week, board president Abhijat Sheth told ANI. The announcement comes after the NBE cancelled the exam 12 hours before it was set to be conducted on June 23 following reports of a NEET UG paper leak case. The president also added that the SOPs and protocols will be reviewed as soon as possible.

Before the NTA was formed in 2017, the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) used to conduct the All India Pre-Medical Test (AIPMT). In 2015, more than six lakh candidates sat for the exam on May 3 at 1,050 centres across the country. On June 15, 2015, the Supreme Court cancelled the exam and directed that the re-test be conducted within four weeks. There were petitions in the SC that said electronic devices were used by candidates to access answer keys, and asked the court to cancel the exam. The Haryana Police had told the top court in its report that while the exam was underway, it had received information that four people had leaked an answer key to the question paper and circulated it to candidates for some amount. The police found a car with four suspects and vests with micro SIM and Bluetooth devices…read more

During her joint Parliament address on Wednesday, President Droupadi Murmu said the Centre had made efforts to solve the paper leak crisis. President Murmu said, “My government is committed to fair investigation and to punish those behind paper leak incidents…read more

The police arrested four accused – Sikandar Yadavendu, his nephew Anurag Yadav, and middlemen Nitish Kumar and Amit Anand. – As per their statements, four candidates were made to memorise the question paper and answers on the eve of the May 5 examination for a price of Rs 40 lakh per candidate. Besides, sources in Bihar Police told News18 that questioning of those arrested so far yielded the name of one Sanjeev ‘Mukhiya’, the alleged mastermind of the racket who remains at large. 18 people have been arrested in Bihar so far in connection with the case.

A CBI team on Wednesday interrogated the principal of Oasis School Dr Ehsanul Haque, who was the district coordinator of the NEET-UG exam in Hazaribag, for several hours and took him to a Charhi-based guest house in Hazaribag where he and a few other persons were reportedly quizzed till late evening, sources told PTI.

CBI team members also visited the main branch of the State Bank of India (SBI) in the Hazaribag district, as the manager of the bank was reportedly the custodian of the question papers. The bank had reportedly received the question papers sent by a courier service operator in an e-rickshaw, the sources said.

Rampant leaks and cancellation of exams has been the norm for umpteen number of state-level examinations across the country, including in big states like Bihar, Rajasthan, Gujarat, Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh and Himachal Pradesh. With 26 paper leaks over the past decade, 14 of which were in the last three to four years, Rajasthan has had a tough time catching the culprits of the leaks. The leaks affected over 40 lakh students…read more

NTA’s handling of the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET) exam crisis was immature, and the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) will now look into every aspect, according to top government sources. “There was no need for grace marks and other relaxations and they should have gone for re-examination immediately. NTA officials are also under the scanner and will be investigated after understanding the whole procedure,” said government sources… read more

Pradeep Singh Kharola took the additional charge of NTA on Monday and had meetings with officials of the testing body. The 1985-batch Indian Administrative Services (IAS) officer is the Chairman and Managing Director of the India Trade Promotion Organisation (ITPO) and has been assigned the charge of NTA till a new director is appointed.

Over a dozen students were detained when the Jawaharlal Nehru University’s students’ union along with other outfits including the Left-backed All India Students Association (AlSA) and Delhi University’s Krantikari Yuva Sangathan staged a protest at the Jantar Mantar on Wednesday against the NEET-UG fiasco, police officials said, reported PTI. The students demanded the scrapping of the NTA and the resignation of Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan against the alleged irregularities in the medical entrance examination.

Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray held a meeting of party MLAs and MLCs in Mumbai on Wednesday wherein he asked them to raise the issues of irregularities in NEET and issues of farmers, an MLA said.

“It is being claimed that NTA is a private organisation and it does not come under the RTI Act. This claim is #Fake,” said PIB Fact Check.

A CBI team on Wednesday visited two private schools in Gujarat’s Kheda and Panchmahal districts as part of its probe into alleged irregularities in NEET UG 2024. The CBI team first visited Jay Jalaram International School on Sevaliya-Balasinor highway near Wanakbori thermal power plant in Kheda district to collect information about NEET as it was designated as one of the exam centres, they said. From Kheda, the CBI team visited Jay Jalaram School near Godhra town of Panchmahal district, which was also a centre for the test in the state. Both the schools are located 100 km apart. “The CBI team visited those classrooms where candidates appeared for the NEET exam on May 5. They took photographs of the classrooms and checked the angle of CCTV cameras installed there,” said Dixit Patel, owner of both the schools.

A court in Bihar’s Patna on Wednesday sent two accused in the NEET “paper leak” to CBI remand for three days. The court allowed the CBI to take Baldev Kumar alias Chintu and Mukesh Kumar under its remand for further questioning. Baldev Kumar, associated with the notorious Sanjeev Kumar alias Lutan Mukhiya gang, allegedly received the solved answer sheet of the NEET-UG in PDF format on his mobile phone a day before the exam, sources said. Mukesh is also associated with the gang, sources told PTI.

CBI team members visited the main branch of the State Bank of India (SBI) in the Hazaribag district, as the manager of the bank was reportedly the custodian of the question papers. The bank had reportedly received the question papers sent by a courier service operator in an e-rickshaw, the sources told PTI.

A CBI team on Wednesday interrogated the principal of Oasis School Dr Ehsanul Haque, who was the district coordinator of the NEET-UG exam in Hazaribag, for several hours and took him to a Charhi-based guest house in Hazaribag where he and a few other persons were reportedly quizzed till late evening, sources told PTI.

As per investigation, the the headmaster of a Zilla Parishad school who was arrested late on Sunday night has been absent from school since June 20 but he signed the duty muster on June 20 and 21. The block education officer has submitted a report to senior authorities, officials said, adding that a proposal to suspend the principal will be moved.

While distributing NEET UG question papers to students, officials of any exam centre are required to open two aluminium boxes — one manual, and another digital. While the manual is opened using a key and cutter, the digital one unlocks automatically 45 minutes before the examination. However, this did not happen at Oasis School in Hazaribagh…read more

The Jawaharlal Nehru University Students’ Union (JNUSU) staged a protest at the Jantar Mantar on Wednesday against the NEET-UG fiasco. The students demanded the scrapping of the NTA and the resignation of Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan against the alleged irregularities in the medical qualifying examination. They also demanded re-examination for the NEET-UG examination and ending the centralisation of exams.