Introduction: NEET-UG 2024
The Supreme Court directed the Director of the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Delhi to form a three-member expert committee to determine the correct answer to a disputed multiple-choice question in the NEET-UG 2024 exam. This order regarding NEET-UG 2024 follows a petition challenging the National Testing Agency’s (NTA) decision to accept two different answers as correct. The Court instructed the expert committee to submit its opinion by 12 noon tomorrow after hearing arguments from petitioners disputing the NTA’s stance.
The bench, consisting of Chief Justice of India (CJI) DY Chandrachud and Justices JB Pardiwala and Manoj Misra, highlighted the necessity of expert input to resolve the matter.
Order Statement
“As indicated, as per the question as framed, students had to select one option as their answer. In order to resolve the issue as regards the correct answer, we are of the considered view that an expert opinion should be sought from IIT Delhi. We request the Director of IIT Delhi to constitute a team of three experts of the subject concerned. The expert team constituted by the Director is requested to formulate the opinion on the correct option. Remit the opinion to the Registrar by 12 noon tomorrow. The Court directed the Registrar General to communicate the order to the IIT Delhi Director to ensure swift action in preparing the opinion.
The petitioners argued regarding the NTA’s instructions. Students were required to follow the latest edition of the NCERT textbook. They contended that option 4 was the correct answer for Question No. 19 in Test Booklet Code S3. This is as per the latest NCERT syllabus, while option 2 was correct according to the old syllabus.
One petitioner, who scored 711 marks, chose not to answer the question. This was due to the ambiguity and to avoid negative marking. She argued that awarding marks to those who selected option 2 contradicted the NTA’s own directive to follow the latest NCERT edition. She requested the Court to either delete the question or withdraw the marks awarded to students who chose option 2.
Conclusion
It was noted that 44 out of 61 students achieved a perfect score of 720/720. They benefited from the grace marks awarded for this question.
During the hearing, CJI Chandrachud acknowledged the validity of the petitioner’s argument. They emphasised the importance of adhering to the instructions to follow the latest NCERT edition. The Solicitor General of India, Tushar Mehta, informed the bench that 4,20,774 candidates selected option 2. While 9,28,379 candidates chose option 4. He explained that the NTA decided to award marks for option 2 after receiving numerous representations from students. They used older textbooks for preparation.
The bench expressed concern about retracting marks awarded to over 4.20 lakh candidates. But, recognized the need for a fair resolution. The hearing will continue tomorrow.
