The Supreme Court on Monday refused to entertain a new plea by some examinees challenging the government’s decision to cancel the UGC-NET exam due to an alleged question paper leak, stating that doing so at this stage would create “chaos.”

A bench led by Chief Justice DY Chandrachud, along with Justices JB Pardiwala and Manoj Misra, noted that the government is rescheduling the exam for August 21, and with around nine lakh students involved, there needs to be “certainty now.”

The CJI emphasized that the court’s intervention at this point could have serious consequences, leading to widespread confusion. The bench pointed out that the exam, held on June 18, was canceled the next day.

“Entertaining the plea now would only add to uncertainty and chaos,” the CJI added, noting that the Central government, being “doubly cautious” after the NEET-UG incident, decided to cancel the exam. He urged that the current process be allowed to proceed.

Previously, the top court had dismissed a PIL on this issue, filed by a lawyer rather than by affected candidates. The CJI had advised the lawyer to focus on legal matters and leave such issues to those directly affected.

The earlier plea also challenged the Union Education Ministry and National Testing Agency’s decision to cancel the UGC-NET exam, following concerns about the exam’s integrity. On June 19, the ministry canceled the exam and referred the matter to the CBI for investigation.

Source: PTI

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