SC reluctant to take up PIL on paper leaks; asks what and how much can courts do

The bench adjourned the hearing to next month, observing that it was already seized of the NEET-UG paper leak case.

NEW DELHI: Supreme Court Tuesday expressed reluctance to entertain a PIL seeking its intervention to curb question paper leaks in competitive examinations and to protect students’ interests, saying the scope of the plea was too vast.“What can the court do? How much the court can do,” a bench of Justices P S Narasimha and Alok Aradhe said when senior advocate Vikas Singh urged it to examine the plea, saying that more than 2.5 crore students had suffered due to question paper leaks in NEET and several other examinations.The bench, however, adjourned the hearing to next month, observing that it was already seized of the NEET-UG paper leak case.The court was hearing a petition by advocate Ashwini Upadhyay, who said repeated paper leaks leave students in dire straits. “It takes a toll on students to face criticism over their life choices, such as spending an entire year preparing for an examination that eventually stands vitiated by a paper leak. The financial distress caused to students also has a direct bearing on their dignity,” the petition said.

“The State owes a heightened duty of care to students while conducting examinations. Students place their trust in the system and invest years of hard work and substantial sums on coaching, study materials, commuting, rent and other expenses. The State effectively induces students and their families to alter their position based on the assurance that examinations will be conducted as scheduled. When a paper is leaked, those expectations are shattered. Therefore, the State is violating students’ right to equality under Article 14 of the Constitution,” it added.