Supreme Court gives Radhakrishnan panel two weeks more to file report on NEET

The SC had tasked the seven-member committee to revamp the exam process in a judgment on August 2. The judgment had made scathing remarks against the “flip-flops” of the NTA in the conduct of NEET-UG 2024.

The Supreme Court on Monday gave the Centre’s high-powered committee headed by former Indian Space Research Organisation Chairperson K. Radhakrishnan two weeks more to file its report on recommendations and ways to implement a top-to-bottom overhauling of the National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test (NEET) exam process.

The apex court had tasked the seven-member Radhakrishnan committee to revamp the exam process in a judgment on August 2. The judgment had made scathing remarks against the “flip-flops” of the National Testing Agency (NTA) in the conduct of NEET-Undergraduate (NEET-UG) 2024, which was riddled with allegations of paper leaks currently under CBI investigation.

The committee was directed to come up with suggestions to rectify “serious security lapses”, to introduce data protection measures, rigorous checks, periodic audits, surprise inspections of exam centres, grievance redressal mechanisms for students and foolproof logistics. The 2024 NEET-UG saw question papers transported in e-rickshaws.

The court had expanded the ambit of the Radhakrishnan committee to include improvements to the exam security and administration by introducing rigorous checks and balances at every stage from the setting of the question papers to the declaration of the final results.

“A body such as NTA which is entrusted with immense responsibility in relation to highly important competitive exams cannot afford to misstep, take an incorrect decision, and amend it at a later stage... Flip-flops are an anathema to fairness,” the court had chastised in its decision in August.

Chief Justice of India D.Y. Chandrachud, who heard the case, had said the mishaps orchestrated by the NTA were a “luxury students cannot afford”.

“The Centre has to restructure the whole process of the NEET through the high-powered committee. It has to ensure that we do not have further such examples in the future,” Chief Justice Chandrachud had said.

The court had at the time directed the Radhakrishnan committee to submit its report to the Ministry of Education by September 30, 2024.

The Ministry was supposed to take a decision on the committee’s recommendations within a month thereafter and implement the plan of action. The government had to file a compliance report in the court.

Published - October 21, 2024 01:17 pm IST