On Thursday (June 20), the Supreme Court halted proceedings in petitions filed in Rajasthan, Calcutta, and Bombay High Courts concerning the alleged paper leak in the NEET-UG 2024 exam conducted on May 5 this year.
A vacation bench comprising Justices Vikram Nath and SVN Bhatti issued the order while also issuing notice on a transfer petition filed by the National Testing Agency (NTA), seeking the transfer of these petitions from the High Courts to the Supreme Court.
Initially reluctant to stay the proceedings, the bench noted that once notice is issued on transfer petitions, High Courts typically refrain from further proceedings. However, Advocate Vardhaman Kaushik, representing NTA, pointed out that despite a similar transfer petition receiving notice last week, High Courts continued to handle the matter.
The bench acknowledged that cases related to individual grievances could be appropriately heard by the High Courts.
"There may be instances where individual petitions have been filed seeking access to answer sheets, adjustments in marks, or other issues. Let those matters be addressed by the High Courts," Justice Nath remarked.
Justice Nath referred to a recent incident in the Allahabad High Court where a writ petition by a NEET aspirant (Ayushi Patel) was dismissed after it was found that she had submitted forged documents alleging NTA's failure to declare her result.
The NTA's counsel clarified that the transfer request pertains specifically to petitions challenging the alleged paper leak and individual candidates' grievances.
Ultimately, the bench decided to stay further proceedings before the High Courts. "Meanwhile, the proceedings before the High Court shall remain stayed," the Court ordered, scheduling the transfer petitions for July 8.
Last week, the Supreme Court had similarly acted on NTA's petition to transfer a related case pending in the Delhi High Court.
Today, the Court also issued notice on certain other writ petitions alleging irregularities in the NEET-UG 2024 conduct, consolidating them with related matters scheduled for July 8. The Court emphasized that it was not halting the counseling process and orally indicated that the admission process would be subject to the outcome of these petitions.
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