'Haven't Learnt Any Lessons': Supreme Court Pulls Up NTA Over NEET-UG Paper Leak Row

New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Monday while hearing pleas filed against National Testing Agency (NTA) said that it was sad that NTA has not learned from the earlier NEET (UG) paper leak, and has also sought responses from the Centre, NTA, and the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on pleas asking the replacement of the testing agency with a robust, autonomous body to conduct the medical entrance exam.

What did Supreme Court say?

The Supreme Court while hearing pleas filed against NTA remarked that, 'it is sad that they have not learnt any lessons' despite getting several directions issued in connection with the 2024 NEET (UG) paper leak case.

On Monday, a bench comprising of Justices PS Narasimha and Alok Aradhe heard several petitions seeking measures ranging from replacing the NTA to shifting NEET entirely to a computer-based format.

What did Supreme Court ask NTA to do?

The Supreme Court directed the NTA to file a counter affidavit by Thursday on compliance with the directions issued by the court in 2024.

"It's sad that they have not learnt their lessons. The matter travelled to this court earlier also. There was a committee, a monitoring committee, which made some recommendations, and they were accepted. We want NTA to file an affidavit on the steps taken for compliance of recommendations suggested by the committee," the bench said.

Former ISRO scientist K. Radhakrishnan, who headed the monitoring committee, has also been asked to file an affidavit. The case has been listed later this week on an urgency basis.

The case has been listed for further hearing on May 29. 

In their plea, the Federation of All India Medical Association (FAIMA) and United Doctors Front (UDF) sought directions to replace or overhaul the NTA and establish a more secure and autonomous mechanism for conducting the exam.