NEET paper leak localised, not circulated on social media, CBI tells court

NEET paper leak localised, not circulated on social media, CBI tells court

Mangalore Today News Network / India Today

New Delhi, July 11, 2024: The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) is likely to maintain in the Supreme Court that the NEET-UG 2024 paper leak was not widespread but a "localised" one, sources told India Today.

The CBI made the submission in its status report submitted to the Supreme Court in a sealed cover on Thursday.

In its report, the CBI said the leak was confined to a single exam centre in Bihar and affected only a few students, sources said.

The CBI also mentioned that the leaked paper was not circulated on social media, contradicting earlier allegations of widespread dissemination of leaked papers online.

The agency’s findings will provide clarity on the extent of the paper leak and its impact on the exam.

The CBI’s submission is in tune with the stance of the Centre, which has opposed a full NEET-UG retest for 23 lakh students who appeared for the entrance exam on May 5.

The Centre, in its affidavit before the Supreme Court, said there was no indication of "mass malpractice" in the exam.

Citing data analytics of the NEET-UG 2024 results by IIT-Madras, the Centre also said there was no indication of a "localised set of candidates being benefitted leading to abnormal scores" in NEET-UG 2024.

The affidavit came after the top court sought to know whether it would be feasible to use data analytics to identify suspect cases and segregate tainted students from untainted ones.

In a separate affidavit, the National Testing Agency (NTA), which conducts the NEET-UG exam, said that viral videos purportedly showing photos of the leaked question paper on social media app Telegram were fake.

The NTA, which has been facing flak from students for its handling of the NEET exam and results, said it had carried out an analysis of the distribution of marks in the NEET exam at the national, state, city and centre level.

"This analysis indicates that the distribution of marks is quite normal and there seems to be no extraneous factor which would influence the distribution of marks," the NTA said in its affidavit.