Centre files affidavit in SC denying 'mass malpractice' in NEET-UG exam

NEW DELHI: The central government on Wednesday filed an affidavit in Supreme Court saying that there was no "mass malpractice" nor a localised set of candidates being benefitted leading to abnormal scores in NEET-UG 2024. in the 2024 NEET-UG exam.

According to the Centre, data analytics conducted by the Indian Institute of Technology Madras indicates no evidence of widespread misconduct or any specific group of candidates unfairly benefiting, which could result in unusual scores.

The marks distribution follows the bell-shaped curve that is witnessed in any large-scale examination indicating no abnormality.

In an additional affidavit, the Centre told the top court that counselling will commence in four rounds beginning in the third week of July.

Any candidate found to have benefited from malpractice will have their candidacy revoked at any point during or after the counselling process, it said.

"The marks distribution follows the bell-shaped curve that is witnessed in any large-scale examination indicating no abnormality," the IIT Madras report said.

The NEET-UG 2024 was taken up on May 5 by 23.33 lakh students at 4,750 centres in 571 cities, including in 14 cities overseas.

The Centre and the NTA, in their earlier affidavits filed in the apex court, had said that scrapping the exam would be "counterproductive" and "seriously jeopardise" lakhs of honest candidates in the absence of any proof of large-scale breach of confidentiality.

The National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test-Undergraduate (NEET-UG) is conducted by the NTA for admissions to MBBS, BDS, AYUSH and other related courses in government and private institutions across the country.