The shop owner and his son are currently on the run, but the individual who issued the fake certificate for the jewellery has been arrested. A special team of Jaipur police has been formed to apprehend the accused
The Supreme Court on Tuesday issued notice to the centre and NTA, or National Testing Agency, over a petition seeking to cancel results of the NEET-UG 2024 – an ultra-competitive entrance test for undergraduate medical courses – amid allegations the paper was leaked.
“It is not that simple… that because you have done it (held the exam) it is sacrosanct,” the court told the NTA, “Sanctity of (the examination) has been affected… so we need answers.”
The court, though, said counselling for admissions will continue. Justices Vikram Nath and Ahsanuddin Amanullah said, “We are not stopping counselling”. The matter was then posted to July 8 and will be heard with a plea filed before Chief Justice DY Chandrachud.
The court was hearing a fresh petition in the ongoing row over the NEET-UG 2024 results that claim discrepancies in scores and alleged preferential treatment to some students.
The petition asked for the scores from the May 5 exam to be cancelled.
The petition also asked for a fresh exam to be held.
The petitioners – from Telangana and Andhra Pradesh – have claimed variances in grant of grace marks, for which they say there is “no defined logic”, and drawn the court’s attention to “statistically impossible” marks, including students scoring the maximum – 720 of 720.
“There has no defined logic for grace marks given (and) no list has been shared as per given grace marks. Moreover, the reason for awarding grace marks is ‘wastage of time’… but this was never disclosed in information bulletin before the exam,” the petitioners claimed.
The petitioners have also pointed to the fact 67 students from one particular coaching centre got a full 720 marks, and also that a provisional answer key released by the NTA had been contested by over 13,000 students as the problem pointed to a different answer.
Underscoring the dangers of cheating in a medical test, the plea said, “This field requires a deep understanding of scientific and medical knowledge… cheating or using unfair means to pass an exam can lead to a lack of competence and endanger lives of patients.”
The petitioners also noted that cheating in exams “undermines the principles of meritocracy and equal opportunities, which are essential for social mobility and fairness in society”.
“It perpetuates inequalities by favoring those who can afford to pay for leaked exam papers or engage in fraudulent activities, while disadvantaging those who rely on their hard work and merit to succeed and the same also impacts the society as a whole,” the plea said.
On May 17, while the bench led by the Chief Justice was hearing a similar plea, the court issued a notice but did not halt declaration of results.
Meanwhile, the NTA has decided a high-powered committee will analyse the grievances of 1,600 students who have already appeared for the NEET 2024 exam.
Jyotiraditya Scindia took charge of Modi 3.0’s Communications Ministry this morning and said it is like coming full circle because he had earlier worked as a junior minister in the same ministry from 2007 to 2009 when the UPA-government under Manmohan Singh was in power.
Earlier with the Congress, Mr Scindia was Minister of State for Communications and Information Technology in the UPA-1 government. He also held independent charge for Power and Corporate portfolios in the UPA-2 government. This time, he has risen to the cabinet rank.
The Madhya Pradesh leader, who switched from the Congress to the BJP in 2020 following a mutiny that brought down the Kamal Nath government, has been elected to Lok Sabha from his family stronghold Guna for the fifth time. In the second Narendra Modi government, he was a Rajya Sabha MP and handled the portfolios of Steel and Civil Aviation. Besides Communications, Mr Scindia has been tasked with the development of Northeast. Along with his 71 other colleagues in Modi 3.0, Mr Scindia took the oath at Rashtrapati Bhavan Sunday.
“It’s my honour that the Prime Minister has given me the responsibility of the Communications Ministry. Both the telecom and the IndiaPost division have a tremendous role to play on a global as well as on a local stage to join the hearts of millions of people across our country and across the world,” he said after taking charge today.
“Under his leadership, there has been a revolution in this department. And on this day, I vow to persevere and put in my best to ensure that we deliver according to the aspirations of the Prime Minister as well as the 140 crore people across the length and breadth of this country,” he added.
Recollecting his earlier stint in the ministry, Mr Scindia said, “It is also coming full circle. I worked as a junior minister in this department many years ago in 2007. For me, this is a department with which I have enormous emotional ties. It is my sincere effort to ensure we live up to the expectations of the people of India under the leadership of the Prime Minister.”