Supreme Court Rejects PIL Against UGC-NET Exam Cancellation Amid Paper Leak Concerns

On Monday, the Supreme Court rejected a PIL challenging the government’s decision to cancel the UGC-NET examination due to an alleged question paper leak. The bench, consisting of Chief Justice D Y Chandrachud and justices JB Pardiwala and Manoj Misra, noted that the PIL was filed by a lawyer rather than by affected students and therefore declined to entertain it. The court clarified that the dismissal of the PIL does not imply a decision on its merits.

The Chief Justice suggested that the affected students should file the PIL themselves. The bench advised the lawyer, Ujjawal Gaur, who filed the PIL, to focus on legal matters and leave such issues for affected individuals. The plea was filed against the decision of the Union education ministry and the National Testing Agency to cancel the UGC-NET exam following concerns about its integrity.

The ministry had canceled the UGC-NET exam on June 19 and handed the matter over to the CBI for investigation. Furthermore, the plea sought an immediate stay on the proposed re-examination of the UGC-NET exam until the CBI completes its inquiry into the paper leak allegations.

The petitioner claimed that the cancellation was arbitrary and unjust, citing recent findings of the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) indicating that the evidence suggesting the paper leak is manipulated, thus undermining the basis for the cancellation.

The petitioner also argued that the unwarranted cancellation of the exam has caused significant distress, anxiety, and unnecessary expenditure of resources for the aspirants who had diligently prepared for the examination.