New Delhi: The Supreme Court today set aside All India Medical Test Examination (AIPMT) held on may 3 and directed Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) to re-conduct the exam within four weeks.
The apex court bench of Justices RK Agrawal and Amitava Roy had on Friday reserved its verdict in the matter.
The court had extended till today its earlier order restraining the CBSE from declaring the result that was originally scheduled to be announced June 5.
The Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE), which had conducted the exam, had opposed the plea for re-conduct of the test, saying that it would involve a mammoth exercise spread over a long period.
Several petitions were filed after the exam seeking re-conduct of the AIPMT following the leak of the question paper and circulation of answer keys through electronic devices at different examination centres across 10 states.
Four people, including two dentists and an MBBS student, were arrested in Haryana for an alleged conspiracy to leak the AIPMT answer sheets.
44 students have been identified so far to be alleged beneficiaries of the paper leak.
6.30 lakh students took the entrance test at 1,050 examination centre across the country.
Solicitor General (SG) Ranjit Kumar, appearing for the CBSE, opposed the contention seeking cancellation of the test, saying, "6.3 lakh students cannot be made to take the exam afresh when only 44 students have been found involved in taking benefits through unfair means".
The Supreme Court had also said that all those who benefited from the leak of the AIPMT question papers had not been identified and if there was a lurking doubt over the integrity of the test then it may address the plea for re-conduct of the examination.
"Even if a single person is the beneficiary of his illegal labour, the sanctity of the examination cannot be sustained," it said when CBSE opposed the plea of re-conduct.
