On Monday, the Supreme Court of India decided not to consider a plea from a group of candidates challenging the government’s decision to cancel the UGC-NET 2024 exam. The cancellation came after allegations surfaced that the exam paper had been leaked. The court emphasized that taking up such pleas could create more confusion and uncertainty.
The plea was brought before a bench led by Chief Justice of India (CJI) DY Chandrachud, along with justices JB Pardiwala and Manoj Misra. The bench stated that the exam would now be held on August 21, 2024, and it was essential to provide stability and certainty for the nearly nine lakh students who were set to take it.
The Chief Justice remarked, “Let there be finality. We are not in a perfect world. Let the exams happen on August 21. Let there be certainty for students. How can we now cancel?” This statement highlighted the importance of moving forward with the rescheduled exam rather than causing further delays.
The controversy began when the UGC-NET exam, initially conducted on June 18, 2024, was abruptly canceled by the government the following day, on June 19, 2024. The decision to cancel the exam was made after concerns arose regarding the integrity of the test due to the alleged paper leak.
Since then, the petitioners have been challenging this decision, but the court noted that almost two months had passed since the cancellation. The bench observed that entertaining the petition at this late stage would only lead to more uncertainty and “utter chaos” among the students.
Previously, the Supreme Court had dismissed a similar plea on the grounds that it was filed by a lawyer rather than by the directly affected candidates. Despite this, another plea was filed, this time against the decision by the Union Education Ministry and the National Testing Agency (NTA) to cancel the exam.
The decision to cancel the UGC-NET exam on June 19, 2024, was taken by the education ministry following reports that the integrity of the exam may have been compromised. The matter has since been handed over to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) for further investigation.
In light of these developments, the Supreme Court’s decision to allow the rescheduled exam to proceed on August 21, 2024, provides some relief and certainty to the vast number of students who have been waiting for clarity on the issue.
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