The Union Education Ministry on Tuesday filed a petition in the Supreme Court seeking additional time to submit the report of a high-level committee on reforms in the National Testing Agency (NTA). In the top court, the ministry said that the Supreme Court should provide three more weeks to the High Power Committee constituted to reform the examination body (NTA) to submit the final report.
Earlier, the Supreme Court had asked the Expert Committee constituted to monitor the NTA to prepare an SOP for NEET and also identify the flaws in cyber security.
NEET paper leak: CBI charge sheets principal, vice principal of Hazaribagh school
Earlier, the CBI filed the second charge sheet in the paper leak case in which the probe agency claimed the principal and vice principal of the Oasis School in Hazaribagh, Jharkhand, conspired with others to steal the NEET-UG 2024 question paper.
The charge sheet, naming Principal Ahsanul Haque, Vice Principal Mohd Imtiyaz Alam and four others, was filed before a special court in Patna, said the officials on September 20.
In its report filed on September 19, the CBI also named Aman Kumar Singh, Baldev Kumar, Sunny Kumar and a local journalist Jamaluddin.
They were charged under Section 120-B (criminal conspiracy), Section 109 (abetment), Section 409 (criminal breach of trust), Section 420 (cheating), Section 380 (theft), Section 201 (causing disappearance of evidence), and Section 411 (dishonestly receiving stolen property).
Additionally, the central probe agency levelled provisions of the Prevention of Corruption Act against Haque and Alam.
Haque was appointed city coordinator for Hazaribagh and Alam was designated the centre superintendent by National Testing Agency for conducting conduct of NEET UG-2024 examination.
48 accused arrested in paper leak case
The CBI has arrested 48 individuals in connection with the case. CBI has also identified the beneficiary candidates of this paper leak and shared their details with the National Testing Agency for necessary action.
The agency filed its first charge sheet against 13 accused on August 1. The CBI alleged that Pankaj Kumar, one of the alleged masterminds, acted in connivance with Haque and Alam.
The trunks containing the NEET UG 2024 question papers were brought to the school and kept in the control room in the morning of May 5. Haque and Alam illegally allowed Kumar to access the room where the trunks were kept, the CBI has alleged. Using sophisticated tools, Kumar allegedly opened the trunk to access the question papers from the trunk, it said.
According to the CBI, the paper was solved at Hazaribagh on the morning of examination of May 5 by a set of solvers studying in MBBS courses at AIIMS Patna, RIMS Ranchi and a Medical College in Bharatpur.
The agency has arrested seven alleged solvers and seized the equipment used to open the trunk.
"The solved paper was shared with certain selected students who paid money to the accused. All the solvers, who are MBBS students from reputed colleges, have been identified and most of them were arrested. These solvers were specially brought to Hazaribagh as part of the conspiracy," the CBI spokesperson had said.
Other gang members who acted with Kumar have been identified and some of them arrested. "This group was actively assisted by a set of accused persons who arranged places for housing the candidates, another set of accused were involved in mobilising and ferrying the candidates. The candidates who gained access to the solved question paper are being traced and necessary action is being taken," the CBI had said.
This year, the exam was conducted on May 5 at 4,750 centres in 571 cities, including 14 abroad. More than 23 lakh candidates had appeared for the test.
(With agency inputs)
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