The Supreme Court has commenced hearing a batch of pleas related to the NEET-UG exam, including those alleging irregularities and malpractices in the medical test and seeking a direction to conduct it afresh. The lawyers representing a petitioner started the submissions, saying that they were seeking the cancellation of the exam on grounds such as paper leak, OMR sheet manipulation, impersonation and cheating. In a reply the court stated that cancellation of the exam is the extreme last resort. The Chief Justice of India said the fact that the sanctity of the exam is compromised is beyond question. However, before ordering a retest, the extent of the leak needs to be known.

A bench comprising Chief Justice D Y Chandrachud, Justice J B Pardiwala and Justice Manoj Misra is hearing a total of 38 petitions related to the exam, today. Earlier, in an affidavit filed before the apex court, the Centre and NTA said there was no need to re-conduct the medical exam in the absence of any evidence of large-scale irregularities. It also contended that a fresh exam would adversely affect the lives of lakhs of genuine candidates.

NTA conducts the NEET-UG for admissions to MBBS, BDS, AYUSH and other related courses in government and private institutions across the country.