New Delhi: Amid nationwide outrage over alleged question paper leaks in the NEET medical entrance exam, a doctors’ organisation has approached the Supreme Court seeking the dissolution of the National Testing Agency (NTA), which conducts the test.
NEET is held for admission to undergraduate medical courses such as MBBS and BDS across India. This year’s exam was conducted on May 3, with around 23 lakh candidates appearing. Complaints of a paper leak surfaced before the test, following which the NTA cancelled the completed exam and announced a re-test on June 21, along with guidelines.
A CBI probe is under way into the alleged leak, and nine people have been arrested so far, according to the report.
The petition, filed as a public interest litigation by Dr Lakshya Mittal, president of the United Doctors Front, argues that an agency deciding the fate of crores of students should not function like an autonomous voluntary body under the Societies Registration Act, 1860. It claims repeated irregularities in medical entrance exams violate constitutional rights, including equality and the right to livelihood.
The plea seeks directions to immediately dissolve the NTA and create a new statutory National Examination Board under direct parliamentary oversight. It also asks that the new body be subject to CAG audit, have strong cyber security and paper-leak prevention units, and that a temporary committee under Supreme Court supervision ensure future national-level exams are conducted with complete integrity.
