Supreme Court commences hearing on pleas related to row over NEET-UG

The Supreme Court on Monday commenced hearing on a batch of petitions related to the controversy-ridden medical entrance exam, NEET-UG 2024. The top court was told by a counsel for NEET-UG aspirants that the National Testing Agency (NTA), which conducts the prestigious exam, has admitted to paper leak and the dissemination of the leaked question paper' through WhatsApp. At the outset, the bench comprising Chief Justice D Y Chandrachud and justices JB Pardiwla and Manoj Misra asked the counsel for the parties as to what emerged from the declaration of the centre-wise and city-wise results of the exam. The hearing is underway. An analysis of results released by NTA on Saturday indicated that the candidates who allegedly benefitted from the paper leak and other irregularities did not do well. Some centres, however, showed high concentration of well-performing students, it revealed. The voluminous data of over 32 lakh candidates from 4,750 centres was not released in a cumulative for