New Delhi: The Supreme Court (SC) on Tuesday issued a notice to the National Testing Agency (NTA) on a plea alleging irregularities in the NEET-UG held on May 5 for admission to Undergraduate courses (MBBS, BDS) in Medical Colleges across the country.  The Court, however, orally declined to stay the counselling process.

The Bench of Justices Vikram Nath and Ahsanuddin Amanullah scheduled the hearing of the case on July 8 after the re-opening of the Court following the summer vacation.

Justice Amanullah said the Court needed answers from the NTA as the allegations directly impact the ‘sanctity’ of the NEET (National Eligibility Cum Entrance Test). A lot of questions have been raised and the sanctity of the exam has to be maintained, he pointed out.

Students and the Opposition parties had alleged widespread irregularities in the conduct of the exam. Also, several aspirants had alleged inflation of marks which led to 67 aspirants bagging the top rank (720/720), including 6 from the same exam centre at Faridabad in Haryana.

The NTA, which conducted the NEET exam, denied any irregularities and said the changes made in NCERT textbooks and the grace marks granted to some students, who lost time at the exam centres, were among the reasons for the higher scores.