The Spureme Court on Monday confirmed that there has been a scam and the question paper for National Eligibility cum Entrance test 2024 which was held on Monday was compromised.
However, speculations related to retest the Bench of Chief Justice of India (CJI) DY Chandrachud and Justices JB Pardiwala and Manoj Misra said, they will have to determine to what extent the exam was compromised in order to decide whether a retest would be necessary or not.
“The fact that the sanctity of the exam has been compromised is beyond doubt – that there has been a leak … Now, what is the consequence of that leak would depend on the nature of that leak … If it is not extensive, then there is no cancellation. Before we order a retest, we must be careful. What is the nature of that leak? We are dealing with the careers of 23 lakh students … What is the point of time that the leak took place? How was the leak disseminated? These are important questions. And next, very important – what are the actions which the government of India and NTA had taken to identify the wrong-doings and who are the beneficiaries of the wrongdoings?” the CJI remarked.
The decision for a retest would depend on following factors –
1. Whether the alleged breach took place at a systemic level or widespread like social media level.
2. Whether the breach has taken down the entire integrity of the whole exam process.
3. Whether it is possible to segregate the culprit students and the innocent students.
The National Testing Agency, who administered the test, was contacted for the following information in order to confirm the aforementioned.
– When did the leak initially occur?
– The way in which the leaked question papers were distributed?
– The interval of time between the May 5 exam and the leak.
Additionally, the NTA is required to provide the Court with information regarding the procedures followed in order to identify the leak’s beneficiaries, the centers and cities where the leak occurred, the methods used in order to identify the beneficiaries of the breach, and the methods used in order to distribute the leak.
Further the apex Court has also asked the CBI to handover it’s full report of Investigation.
“We are also of the view that CBI shall file a status report before this court on the status of investigation as on today and material which has come to light till today,” the Court directed.
The court further ordered that the Central government and NTA report to it on whether the government’s cyber forensics unit could utilize data analytics to detect suspicious situations and separate pupils who were tainted from those who were not.
On July 10, all of these facts must be supplied by five o’clock. The matter will next be heard on Thursday, July 11.
