Supreme Court Refuses Urgent Hearing on NEET-UG Paper Leak Plea; CBI Investigation Ordered

On Monday, the Supreme Court declined to urgently list a plea seeking an investigation by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and the Enforcement Directorate (ED) into the alleged NEET-UG paper leak. The bench, led by Justice Abhay S. Oka, decided not to issue notice to the central investigative agencies, noting that a batch of related petitions, including one requesting the cancellation of the exam, is scheduled for hearing on July 8.

The plea, part of an ongoing petition, argued that the offence extends beyond the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and that the accused should be prosecuted under the stringent provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), 2002.

In a prior hearing, the Supreme Court had rejected requests to delay the start of the admission counselling process and consistently declined to issue any interim orders to stay the counselling for medical programmes following the NEET-UG exam.

Meanwhile, on Saturday, the Centre ordered a CBI investigation into the allegations of a paper leak and other irregularities in the NEET-UG 2024 exam, which was held on May 5 in offline OMR mode. The National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test (Undergraduate), or NEET-UG, is administered by the National Testing Agency (NTA) for admissions to undergraduate medical programmes.

This development comes as the Supreme Court continues to address various petitions related to the NEET-UG exam, ensuring that the integrity of the examination process is upheld and any misconduct is thoroughly investigated.