The Supreme Court dismissed a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) challenging the Centre’s decision to cancel the University Grants Commission-National Eligibility Test (UGC-NET) examination following an alleged question paper leak. A bench led by Chief Justice of India (CJI) DY Chandrachud with Justices JB Pardiwala and Manoj Misra refused to hear the plea after noting that it was filed by a lawyer and not a student who was personally affected by the exam’s cancellation.
Decision and Investigation
Advocate Ujjawal Gaur filed the PIL against the Union education ministry and the National Testing Agency’s (NTA) decision to cancel the UGC-NET exam following allegations that the exam’s integrity had been compromised.
The court clarified that this refusal to hear the PIL doesn’t reflect judgements on the merits of the PIL, as it was filed by a lawyer, Ujjawal Gaur, rather than the affected students themselves. The bench further advised Gaur to focus on legal matters and allow affected persons to address such issues.
The Union education ministry had ordered the cancellation of the UGC-NET on June 19, reportedly after transferring the case over to the CBI to investigate the matter. The exam has now been rescheduled to be conducted in August.
Petitioner’s Claims
The plea, intended to halt the proposed re-examination of the UGC-NET exam until the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) completes its investigation into the allegations over the paper leak, was ultimately dismissed.
The plea, filed through advocate Rohit Pandey, claimed that the decision was arbitrary and unjust, citing recent CBI findings that the evidence suggesting the paper leak was doctored, thereby nullifying the basis on which the cancellation was founded.
Gaur said that the cancellation of the exam was “unwarranted” and has caused significant distress, anxiety, and unnecessary expenditures for aspirants who rigorously prepared for the critical examination.
The court’s ruling leaves the matter to those directly affected to pursue the matter themselves if they choose to do so.
