NTA Clarifies IIT-Madras Director’s Role Amid NEET-UG 2024 Controversy, Files Fresh Affidavit in SC

New Delhi: The National Testing Agency (NTA) has filed a fresh affidavit with the Supreme Court, denying allegations of a conflict of interest against the director of IIT-Madras. The director's report has been a key piece of evidence for the NTA and the Union government in refuting claims of a widespread leak and systemic failure during the NEET-UG 2024 examination.

In the affidavit submitted on Sunday night, the NTA clarified that the IIT-Madras director, responsible for conducting the JEE (Advanced) 2024, is an ex-officio member of the NTA Governing Body. However, it stressed that the core functions of the NTA are managed by its Executive Committee, with the Governing Body only handling policy matters. To further dispel concerns, the affidavit noted that the IIT-Madras director had delegated another professor to attend Governing Body meetings, and this nominee participated in the last meeting in December 2023. The director himself has not attended any NTA General Body meetings since December 2022.

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During a hearing on July 18, petitioners demanding a re-test highlighted the conflict of interest issue, arguing that the IIT-Madras director's dual roles compromised the report’s integrity. Solicitor General Tushar Mehta countered these claims, stating that the director's involvement was strictly related to his role in conducting the JEE-Advanced exam and that he had appropriately delegated his duties regarding NTA meetings.

In the July 18 hearing, the Supreme Court directed the NTA to publish the marks obtained by all NEET-UG 2024 students by noon on Saturday, ensuring transparency by masking candidate identities but including the city and centre of their exams. This directive aimed to address student grievances and potentially uncover patterns of irregularities. The NTA complied with this order, releasing the data as instructed.

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The court also narrowed its scrutiny to two specific instances of paper leaks in Patna and Hazaribagh. The bench, led by Chief Justice of India Dhananjaya Y Chandrachud and including Justices JB Pardiwala and Manoj Misra, emphasized that the decision to annul the examination and order a retest would depend on whether these breaches were isolated or indicative of a systemic issue. The bench stated, “The fact that there was a leak at Patna and Hazaribagh is admitted. The question papers had been disseminated there. We want to ensure whether this was confined to those centres or widespread.”

The court scheduled the next hearing for July 22 and requested the investigation report from the Bihar Police, which initially handled the probe before it was transferred to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on June 22.

The NEET-UG 2024 examination saw 2.4 million students appear at 4,750 centres across 571 cities worldwide. Following the exam, widespread protests erupted across India, with students alleging question paper leaks, inflated marking, and arbitrary grace marks. Opposition parties have called for a Supreme Court-monitored investigation. Despite the outcry, the government has ruled out a retest, maintaining that the leaks were localized and arguing that cancelling the exam would be unfair to successful candidates.