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Synopsis

The Centre has filed a plea in the Supreme Court seeking an additional three weeks to submit a report from a high-level committee tasked with recommending improvements for conducting all-India tests for undergraduate medical courses by the National Testing Agency.

It has requested the Supreme Court to modify paragraph 108 of the judgment dated August 2, 2024, to allow a three-week extension for the committee, extending the deadline to October 21, 2024, for submitting the report.

"Since this court had granted time till 30.09.2024 to the High-Level Committee of Experts on the National Testing Agency for submission of its report to the Ministry of Education, which is due to expire, therefore the present application is necessitated seeking modification of judgment dated 02.08.2024 to the extent and praying for an extension of time by three (3) weeks for submission of the Report of the High-Level Committee of Experts on the National Testing Agency to the Ministry of Education," the plea stated.

In its application, the government submitted that in compliance and pursuance to the directions passed by the top court, the Committee inter-alia held 22 meetings, till September 18, 2024 to evaluate the current challenges, complexities in conducting high-stake examinations, potential risks, as well as security measures involved in the process. 

For the said purpose the Committee also held consultations with various stakeholders, including online consultations on MyGov Portal, in which 37,144 responses were received from students, guardians, academicians, experts etc, the plea said.

Besides, physical consultations with exam conducting agencies, state governments, police officials, regulatory bodies, academicians, students technology solution advisors, global testing experts etc were also conducted, it mentioned.

The plea stated that the high-level committee has prepared a comprehensive first draft of its report to be submitted to the Ministry of Education.

"However, it has been intimated by the committee that the said draft needs more improvement to effectively communicate the essence of all the deliberations and consultations and bring out a robust road-map for conducting future national entrance tests in a more transparent manner with zero error and under a tamper- proof architecture," it said.

Thus, the plea said, for the committee to further deliberate and frame effective, action-oriented recommendations toward making the NTA a more robust public examinations conducting body, an extension of three weeks' time is required for the submission of the final report. 

After reports emerged alleging malpractices in NEET 2024 held on May 5, the Ministry of Education constituted the committee by a notification on June 22, 2024. The government also ordered CBI probe.

The high-level committee of experts headed by Dr K Radhakrishnan, former Chairman, ISRO and Chairman, BoG, IIT Kanpur, was tasked to suggest effective measures for conducting transparent, smooth and fair conduct of examinations by the National Testing Agency.

In its judgment, the apex court had pointed out that the notification indicated the committee's report would be submitted within two months from the date of its issuance, which was August 22, 2024. However, considering the expanded remit of the committee as outlined in the judgment, additional time had been deemed necessary for a comprehensive report on various aspects related to the conduct of the NEET. Consequently, the court had stated that the committee's report was to be submitted to the Ministry of Education by September 30, 2024.

Case Title: Vanshika Yadav Vs Union of India & Ors