Bihar Kokila & Padma Bhushan awardee Sharda Sinha passes away at the age of 72
The Supreme Court on Monday advised caution to a clutch of petitioners demanding a re-test of the May 5 NEET-UG exam, the results of which were released last month and have been affected by leaked question papers and the award of 'grace marks', or preferential marking, for 1,563 students.
The court said certain circumstances - including "(if) the time lag between the leak and actual exam is limited" - would argue against a re-test. "If students were asked to memorize (the leaked questions) on the morning of the exam then the leak might not have been so widespread..."
The three-judge bench led by Chief Justice DY Chandrachud said it, therefore, was loathe to order a re-test for nearly 24 lakh students - many of whom come from poor families and could ill afford to spend money traveling to exam centers - unless necessary. A re-test is the "last option", it said.
"One thing is clear... questions were leaked. The sanctity of the exam has been compromised... this is beyond doubt. Now we have to establish the extent of the leak," the Chief Justice said, "We have to be careful while ordering a re-test. We are dealing with the careers of lakhs of students," the court said.