Amid allegations of irregularities in the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET) and other competitive exams, the National Testing Agency (NTA) on Wednesday filed a fresh written submission before the Supreme Court, in response to the petitioners' common compilation.
This came ahead of the court's Thursday hearing, on petitions seeking to cancel the NEET-UG 2024 test held on May 5 over alleged paper leak and malpractices.
The fresh submission by the NTA was being seen as a reiteration of earlier submissions put forth by the agency.
In its submission, the NTA told the court that the higher marks obtained by some aspirants in the NEET exam were "not a systematic failure".
It also said the reduction of nearly 25 per cent of the syllabus helped the aspirants score better in the NEET exam.
Also slamming the alleged videos being circulated on social networking app, Telegram, the NTA claimed the videos were doctored and aimed to set up a paper-leak narrative.
Terming merit as "most important and significant", the NTA refuted claims of NEET paper leak in Bihar's Patna and Rajasthan's Sawai Madhopur and said it was taking steps to identify students involved in unfair practices.
While the NTA also acknowledged that the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) was doing its job, it said it was incorrect to say that the deserving candidates would be deprived of their opportunities as the selection process is based on rank.
Earlier, the government and the NTA had opposed the demand for a re-test by stating that the malpractices are localised and have not affected the sanctity of the entire exam.
The Centre cited a data analytics report prepared by IIT Madras to argue that there was no systemic failure as the report did not indicate any "mass malpractice".
The Supreme Court will hear on Thursday, petitions seeking to cancel the NEET-UG 2024 test held on May 5 over alleged paper leak and malpractices.
A bench comprising Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud, Justices JB Pardiwala and Manoj Misra will hear the matter post 10.30 am.
During the hearing held on July 8, the bench led by CJI DY Chandrachud sought the responses of the Union/NTA on the extent of the paper leak and possible segregation of the wrongdoers from others.
The court said that if the sanctity of the entire exam has been affected, and it was impossible to separate the beneficiaries of fraud from the honest candidates, then a re-test may be necessary.
The court also said that the re-test would be the last option, considering the impact on nearly 24 lakh students.
