NEET-UG row: SC to hear batch of pleas on July 8
New Delhi (PTI): The Supreme Court is scheduled to hear on July 8 a batch of pleas related to the controversy-ridden NEET-UG, including those alleging irregularities in the examination held on May 5 and seeking a direction that it be held afresh.
According to the cause list for July 8 uploaded on the apex court's website, the batch of 26 petitions would come up for hearing before a bench comprising Chief Justice D Y Chandrachud and Justices J B Pardiwala and Manoj Misra.
The National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test-Undergraduate (NEET-UG) is conducted by the National Testing Agency (NTA) for admissions to MBBS, BDS, AYUSH and other related courses in government and private institutions across the country.
The NEET-UG, 2024 was held across 4,750 centres on May 5 and around 24 lakh candidates appeared in it.
Initially expected on June 14, the results were announced on June 4 due to an early completion of answer-sheet evaluation.
Allegations of irregularities, including paper leaks, have led to protests in several cities and sparring between rival political parties.
On June 11, hearing a plea seeking that the exam be held afresh on the grounds of alleged question paper leak and other malpractices, the top court observed that the sanctity of the NEET-UG has been affected and sought responses from the Centre and the NTA on the petition.
It, however, refused to stay the counselling of the successful candidates for admissions to MBBS, BDS and other courses.
On June 20, the top court sought the responses of the Centre, the NTA and others on a slew of petitions, including those seeking the scrapping of the NEET-UG and a court-monitored probe amid a mounting outrage over the alleged irregularities in the conduct of the all-India medical entrance test.
Hearing separate pleas on the exam on June 18, the apex court said even if there was "0.001 per cent negligence" on the part of anyone in the conduct of the examination, it should be thoroughly dealt with.
The Centre and the NTA had, on June 13, told the court that they had cancelled the grace marks awarded to 1,563 candidates.
They were given the option to either take a re-test or forgo the compensatory marks awarded for loss of time.
The NTA announced the revised rank list on Monday after issuing the results of the re-test held on June 23.
A total of 67 students had scored a perfect 720, unprecedented in the NTA's history, with six from a Haryana centre figuring in the list, raising suspicions about irregularities in the examination held on May 5. It has been alleged that grace marks contributed to 67 students sharing the top rank.
The number of candidates sharing the top rank in the NEET-UG reduced to 61 from 67 as the NTA announced the revised results on Monday.
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Kejriwal resorting to 'vendetta politics', says BJP after MP Sandeep Pathak booked
New Delhi (PTI): The BJP on Saturday accused Aam Aadmi Party's national convenor Arvind Kejriwal of vendetta politics after Punjab Police booked Rajya Sabha MP Sandeep Pathak, who recently defected to the BJP.
In an X post, BJP national spokesperson Shehzad Poonawalla claimed that Kejriwal is misusing the Punjab Police to settle political scores, and Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann has become a party to it.
"Two FIRs have been filed against Sandeep Pathak, who until recently was in the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) as a Rajya Sabha MP and general secretary (organisation). What is baffling is the shameless, brazen vendetta politics being pursued by Arvind Kejriwal, with Bhagwant Mann complicit in it," Poonawalla said.
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"It is clear this has been done out of vendetta politics by Kejriwal, who is extremely vengeful and vindictive, and misuses the Punjab Police to pursue such political vendetta," he alleged.
Questioning the timing of the FIRs, Poonawalla said, "If these cases existed from the beginning, why were FIRs not filed earlier? If he was corrupt, why was he kept in the party for so long, especially when he was the general secretary (organisation)? Has any new material surfaced in the last few days, or has the alleged corruption occurred only now?"
He alleged that Kejriwal has an "old habit" of targeting political opponents and dissenters.
"We have seen how he has used the police against rivals, including Congress leaders. This is his old habit," Poonawalla said, referring to the withdrawal of Rajya Sabha MP Harbhajan Singh's security.
Poonawalla claimed that several leaders who had left AAP over the years, including Yogendra Yadav, Mayank Gandhi, Ashish Khetan, Ashutosh and Alka Lamba, were "hounded".
He accused the party of failing to introspect.
"Instead of introspecting on how they have changed -- from Anna to Lalu, from Lokpal to corruption -- they are indulging in vendetta politics, trying to victimise people using the strong arm of the law. This reflects an Emergency-like mindset and a dictatorial, Hitlerian mindset," he said.
According to sources, two FIRs have been lodged against Pathak under non-bailable sections.
No further details about the FIRs have been disclosed yet.
On April 24, the AAP suffered a jolt when seven of its 10 Rajya Sabha MPs quit, alleging that Arvind Kejriwal's party has strayed from its principles, values and core morals.
Of the seven MPs -- who were Pathak, Raghav Chadha, Ashok Mittal, Harbhajan Singh, Rajendra Gupta, Vikramjit Sahney and Swati Maliwal -- six were from Punjab.
Later, Rajya Sabha Chairman C P Radhakrishnan officially accepted their merger with the BJP, reducing AAP's strength in the Upper House to three.
