The Supreme Court on Thursday said the pleas related to the controversy-ridden medical entrance exam NEET-UG 2024 would be heard on July 18. A bench headed by Chief Justice DY Chandrachud noted that the Centre and the National Testing Agency (NTA), which conducts the prestigious test, have filed their affidavits in compliance with the apex court's July 8 order.

The bench, also comprising Justices JB Pardiwala and Manoj Misra, observed that lawyers appearing for some of the petitioners have not yet received the affidavits filed by the Centre and the NTA.

It posted the matter for hearing on July 18.

The top court is hearing a batch of pleas related to NEET-UG 2024, including those alleging irregularities and malpractices in the May 5 test, and seeking a direction to conduct it afresh.

The Centre on Wednesday told the Supreme Court there was neither any indication of "mass malpractice" nor a localised set of candidates being benefitted leading to abnormal scores in NEET UG 2024.

It said the data analytics of results of NEET-UG 2024 was conducted by IIT Madras and as per the findings given by the experts, the marks distribution follows the bell-shaped curve that is witnessed in any large-scale examination indicating no abnormality.

In an additional affidavit filed in the apex court, the Centre said for 2024-25, the counselling process for undergraduate seats will be conducted in four rounds starting from the third week of July.

Meanwhile, the National Testing Agency (NTA), which conducts the prestigious test, also filed a separate additional affidavit in the top court and said it has carried out an analysis of the distribution of marks in NEET-UG 2024 at the national, state, city, and centre level.

Source : DNA India