NEET-PG 2024 Case Hearing in Supreme Court Today Seeking Transparency in Exam Results, Answer Key

NEET PG Case: The Supreme Court today will resume the hearing of a petition challenging the refusal of the National Board of Examinations in Medical Sciences (NBEMS) to publish the NEET -PG answer key, question papers, and response sheet of the candidates. NBEMS conducted National Eligibility Cum Entrance- Postgraduate(NEET PG) on August 11, 2024, and its result was declared on August 23. 

The plea of candidates will be heard by a bench, headed by CJI DY Chandrachud, comprising Justices JB Pardiwala and Manoj Misra on Friday, September 20. The bench heard the plea last week and agreed to look into the issue and asked the petitioners' lawyer to serve a copy of the plea on the NBE, apart from serving the standing counsel. 

What is the case all about? 

Petitioners alleged a clear lack of transparency in the conduct of the examination since none of the documents allowed students to verify their performance, adding that neither the question paper, nor the response sheet filled in by candidates, or an answer key was supplied to the students, and just a score card has been released. The advocate Parul Shukla also stated that this year the board did not even reveal the total scores obtained by the candidates in the result. 

NEET -PG 2024 is the single eligibility cum entrance examination for admission to MD/MS/PG Diploma Courses for the academic session 2024-25.

“The method/manner in which examination under the NEET PG 2024 is conducted by the Respondents (authorities) is manifestly arbitrary and against the principles of transparency and fairness in state action as enshrined under Article 14 of the Constitution of India,” the plea reads.

“A serious patent defect in the conduct of the examination”, requiring redressal in order to achieve a clean, transparent, and effective system of examination that gives the best candidates. The NEET -PG being a multidisciplinary exam where one’s rank also determines their ability to opt for the course and field of their choice, any slight variation in marks would bar several candidates from specializing in their field of interest,” it added.