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00:00I'm in conversation with Rohit Jain, Managing Partner from Singhania & Co.
00:05Rohit, thank you so much for taking time out for us.
00:08Thank you for having me.
00:10So, you know, the center has decided to do away with the grace marks that were given to 15,
00:16163 students. And while that partially resolves one of the issues that were raised,
00:22there are bigger allegations, aren't there? Like the question paper leak and the statistically
00:28impossible scoring. So, what are you asking the Supreme Court for on all of those points?
00:36You see, when we approach Supreme Court on behalf of Mr. Allak Pandey,
00:41the whole issue was non-transparency. Because if you follow how the facts have unfolded,
00:46when the result was announced on 4th, there was no mention of grace marks.
00:51Now, when someone pointed out that how is 719 possible, for the first time this whole,
00:57clarification around grace marks came about. So, when we approach Supreme Court, the biggest
01:04ask was to have an independent committee instituted and let there be a thorough
01:10investigation, a proper technical audit. Because right now, we don't even know if
01:15grace marks were given to just 1563 students. Maybe there are even more students whom it was
01:21given and it's not being disclosed. But the demand still holds true while we are happy.
01:27And one must appreciate that right now vacations are going on, which means that the Supreme Court
01:33is not sitting in its usual course. So, considering that, we are very happy that there is some
01:38progress in such a short span of time, but still a lot more deserves to be done. And we still
01:45continue to press for setting up of an independent committee, because this is an exam which almost
01:5224 lakh students are giving and it's going to increase. So, to have questions on the credibility
01:58of the agency, which is having the exam, I think that itself is something that needs to be addressed.
02:03Okay, right. So, given what you've just explained to us, do you think that the decision that has
02:10been taken so far regarding these students being eligible to take a retest, do you think it's a
02:16fair decision, especially given the other students and the fact that the matter might
02:24extend to a lot many more of them as well? You know, that's a very, very good question.
02:30And, you know, our counsel, Mr. J Sai Deepak, you know, hard on the exact same point that
02:36are we setting a precedent that after every exam you have to approach to the court?
02:41Are we saying that students who did not approach the court, you know, don't get the benefit just
02:47because they didn't approach the court? That's setting a completely wrong precedent with due
02:52respect. What we are asking for is that you have identified 1563 students, those
02:59purportedly who went to the high courts, Punjab and Haryana, Delhi, Chhattisgarh.
03:04What about other students? What you're rightly saying, that's the ask that we also put forth
03:09for the bench. And I think that's an open point and needs to be answered. So, while, yes,
03:14there is a positive step in finding a solution, but, I mean, you know, other students who did
03:19not approach the court, they should be given a chance as well. Even as for law under Article 14,
03:26I mean, you know, they should be treated equally and there should be a mechanism to figure out how
03:31to take care of that. Right. Okay. Also, the National Testing Agency has not explained the
03:37rather strained normalization formula, which resulted in four students becoming toppers
03:42after their grace marks were added. So, are you planning on taking up that point as well? And what
03:48else are you planning to take up going forward? So, there is one issue of the leak. You know,
03:57there's an FIR in Bihar. There's one issue of malpractice where, you know, instances were,
04:02you know, reported in various states that, you know, there have been malpractices, etc.
04:07Then there is the issue of, you know, these grace marks. Fourth, there is an issue that, you know,
04:13how many students have been given grace marks? How does one center have six toppers?
04:24How is the cutoff so high compared to last year when, you know, as per the academic experts,
04:30the level of examination was almost on the same lines? So, these issues still, you know, sustain.
04:37And today in the court, so there was item number four, you know, with us, where, you know, that
04:44got disposed. Their prayer was primarily around the issue of grace marks. Whereas since we are
04:52taking a more holistic issue, so our issue, our petition has been kept pending on the other
04:59issues which are to be decided on 8th of July when the next hearing happens. Okay, all right. So,
05:05you know, given some of the issues you've spoken about, Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan
05:12said that there's no corruption in the NEET exam process and that it is completely transparent.
05:19And I think this was a remark made today, in fact. So, would you agree with this?
05:25In law, we have a saying which says that, you know, justice should not only be done,
05:30but it should also be seen. Now, considering how the facts have transpired, it has, you know,
05:36no doubt left a huge mark on, you know, credibility of the examining agency. So,
05:43perhaps more needs to be done than just making a statement. I think NTA should get an independent
05:51investigation done to show that, you know, no such corruption has, in fact,
05:56happened and to re-instill the confidence in the agency.
06:01All right. Thank you so very much for taking time out. And we do hope to keep in touch with you
06:07as the situation evolves going forward. Thank you.