Suspicions emerge as a new Godhra link surfaces

Amid student protests over alleged irregularities in NEET-IG 2024, a petition has been filed in the Supreme Court on behalf of Hiten Singh Kashyap and other students demanding a CBI inquiry. During the hearing of the case on Friday, the vacation bench of Justice Vikram Nath and Sandeep Mehta has issued notice to the Centre and the National Testing Agency (NTA).

The petitioner has raised doubts over the students from Odisha, Karnataka and Jharkhand choosing a particular examination centre in Godhra taluka of Panchmahal, Gujarat. The petition claims that at least 16 students from Odisha, Jharkhand and Karnataka chose Jai Jalaram School in Godhra taluka of Panchmahal in Gujarat as their exam centre and allegedly paid Rs 10 lakh each to clear the exam.

The petition claimed that Gujarat Police arrested a teacher in this case. The petition claims that according to the police, out of this group of 26 students, 16 students chose this remote centre and their names were found in the lists recovered from the main accused Tushar Bhatt, who was a geography teacher in the school and the superintendent of the NEET exam centre.

Petitioner Hiten Kashyap has claimed that some students travelled more than a thousand kilometres to appear for the exam which “highlights irregularities”. The petition has sought an order to the NTA to conduct a fresh NEET 2024 exam after taking necessary steps to prevent other malpractices. Along with this, the Supreme Court has been asked to stay the results and counselling declared by the NTA on June 4 till the petition is pending.