In a significant move to boost transparency in the NEET PG examination process, the Supreme Court has directed the authorities to publish raw scores, answer keys, and the normalization formula used in the exam.
This direction came from a bench comprising Justice J.B. Pardiwala and Justice J. R. Maheshwari, while addressing concerns about fairness in the multi-shift NEET PG examinations.
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“Publish raw scores, answer keys and normalization formulae for transparency in multi-shift NEET-PG exams,”
— Supreme Court
The Court emphasized that making these details public would enhance fairness and help prevent malpractice, especially seat-blocking during the counselling process.
Under the current system, NEET PG is conducted in multiple shifts, where each shift has a different set of question papers. This can lead to difficulty variation. To balance the scores across these shifts, a normalization formula is applied. The final merit list and ranking are based on these normalized scores.
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The judgment was passed while hearing an appeal filed by the State of Uttar Pradesh against a 2018 order of the Allahabad High Court. That earlier order had raised similar concerns about the lack of transparency in the exam process.
Additionally, the Court noted that other writ petitions filed by NEET PG candidates are still pending, seeking similar relief. These petitions are being heard by another bench consisting of CJI D.Y. Chandrachud and Justice A.G. Masih.
This direction from the top court marks a critical step towards ensuring fair and transparent conduct of national-level exams like NEET PG.
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