NEET-UG 2024: Video showing paper leak in Telegram ‘fake’, NTA tells Supreme Court
The Centre on Wednesday summitted a fresh affidavit to the Supreme Court, stating that there was neither any indication of “mass malpractice” nor a localised set of candidates being benefitted leading to abnormal scores in NEET-UG 2024.
The Centre said the data analytics of results of NEET-UG 2024 was conducted by IIT Madras and as per the findings given by the experts, the marks distribution follows the “bell-shaped” curve that is witnessed in any large-scale examination indicating no abnormality.
Supporting this stance, the National Testing Agency (NTA), which conducts NEET, also filed an affidavit separately in the apex court, maintaining that so far only 47 candidates – 17 in Patna and 30 in Godhra – have been suspected to be indulged in paper leak and irregularities relating to OMR sheets.
The affidavits were submitted a day before a bench headed by Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud is set to hear a batch of pleas related to the controversy-ridden medical entrance exam NEET-UG 2024, including those alleging irregularities and malpractices in the May 5 test and seeking a direction to conduct it afresh.
Key takeaways from the affidavits on NEET-UG 2024
The National Testing Agency or NTA said viral videos purportedly showing photos of a leaked NEET-UG question paper on social media app Telegram were fake. “Discussions within the Telegram channel indicate that members identified the video as fake.
The timestamp was manipulated to create a false impression of an early leak. Comments and discussions on social media further corroborate that the images in the video were edited, and the date was intentionally modified to suggest a May 4 leak. The screenshots highlight the fabricated nature of the claims made in the video”, the NTA affidavit said.
The NTA said it has carried out an analysis of distribution of marks in NEET-UG 2024 at the national, state, city and centre level. “This analysis indicates that the distribution of marks is quite normal and there seems to be no extraneous factor, which would influence the distribution of marks,” the NTA said.
The NTA also told the apex court that it would be relying on the findings of the IIT Madras report during the proceedings on Thursday.
The Centre, in its affidavit, said as per findings given by the experts of IIT Madras, there is an overall increase in the marks obtained by the students, specifically in the range of 550 to 720.
Regarding counselling, the Centre said for 2024-25, the counselling process will be conducted in four rounds starting from the third week of July.