Manas Dasgupta
NEW DELHI, June 1: While the online movement Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) founder Abhijeet Dipke issued a step-by-step plan for a peaceful protest amid the ongoing CBSE and NEET paper leak rows, the Supreme Court on Monday declined to direct the National Testing Agency (NTA) to conduct the NEET-UG 2026 re-examination as a Computer-Based Test (CBT) format instead of the existing pen-and-paper mode, observing that altering the mode of examination at this stage would pose practical difficulties.
The NEET-UG 2026 examination, originally held on May 3, was cancelled nationwide on May 12 following allegations of a paper leak. Consequently, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) launched a probe, and a fresh examination has been scheduled for June 21.
A Bench of Justices P.S. Narasimha and Aravind Kumar expressed disinclination to grant the relief sought by the petitioner and deferred consideration of the plea until July, after the court’s partial working days conclude. The Bench was hearing a petition filed by Rashtriya Janata Dal lawmaker Sudhakar Singh seeking a range of directions concerning the conduct of the medical entrance examination.
During the hearing, counsel for the petitioner confined his submissions to the plea that the re-examination be conducted in CBT mode, contending that it would minimise the possibility of another paper leak. “Today I am not pressing any other prayer. It should be CBT,” he submitted.
The Bench, however, noted that similar pleas had been rejected in the past. Referring to the difficulties involved in re-conducting the examination within a short timeframe, it observed, “The kind of pressure that they have, similar matters we have dismissed.”
When the petitioner’s counsel argued that the authorities were proceeding with a pen-and-paper examination despite the paper leak, the Bench pointed to the logistical constraints confronting the examination authorities. “You know what kind of problems we are having. The examination was cancelled. It is being re-conducted,” it remarked.
As the petitioner continued to press for a CBT-based re-test, the court indicated that it was not inclined to examine the issue immediately and directed that the matter be listed after the court’s partial working days conclude. “We will keep it after vacation,” the Bench said. The petition has been tagged with a batch of pending cases seeking broader reforms in the functioning of the NTA and the conduct of competitive examinations.
In its affidavit, the NTA had informed the court that it had decided, in consultation with the Centre, to transition NEET-UG to CBT mode from the next examination cycle. It pointed out that the High-Level Committee of Experts (HLCE) constituted to review the examination process had recommended the shift, noting that all other major examinations conducted by the agency were already computer-based.
“The transition will be implemented from the next examination cycle in consultation with the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (the client Ministry for NEET-UG), thereby bringing all major NTA examinations onto the CBT platform,” the affidavit stated.
The agency further informed the court that the June 21 re-examination would be conducted under a strengthened standard operating procedure framework incorporating multi-layer authentication, enhanced surveillance measures and greater inter-agency coordination.
Meanwhile, the CJP founder Abhijeet Dipke on Monday announced that he would return to India from the US where he is a student on June 6 and hold a protest at Jantar Mantar in New Delhi. The protest will mark the CJP founder’s first visit to India since launching of the satirical political outfit.
In a video message on the social media platform X, Dipke stated that he will be coming back to India to demand the resignation of union education minister Dharmendra Pradhan. “You have been seeing for so many days that we are raising our voice on social media that because of the paper leak, the children of NEET who committed suicide and the hard work of lakhs of students that has been wasted, for that, Dharmendra Pradhan should resign,” he said.
Mr Dipke alleged that exam-related controversies and disruptions had left students anxious and demanded accountability from the government. The CJP, a youth-driven social media movement founded by Mr Dipke, has gained traction since its launch last month, with many public figures subscribing to it. Claiming that an online petition seeking the Education Minister’s resignation had garnered eight lakh signatures, Mr Dipke said protests over education-related issues were being held in Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan and Maharashtra.
The CJP founder further issued certain steps for the outfit’s followers as they plan a protest. “I have decided that I will come to Delhi on 6th June, Saturday morning. All of you meet me at the airport. All of us will go to the Parliament Street Police Station and ask for permission to do a peaceful protest on Jantar Mantar,” said Dipke. “If the Education Minister does not resign even after such a massive blunder, it means there is no such thing as accountability left in our country,” Mr Dipke said.
“The time has come for all of us to come together, following the path of the Constitution of India, and peacefully raise our voices to demand Dharmendra Pradhan’s resignation. If we raise our voices together, they will definitely have to listen to us,” he added further. Dipke further stated that his friends and family remain fearful that he may be arrested for his actions.
“But I still hope that our country is a democracy and we will get permission to protest peacefully. I want to make it clear, I am a big admirer of Gandhi, Ambedkar, Bhagat Singh and Nehru and I believe in the constitution of India more than anything else which gives us the right to raise our voice in a democracy,” the CJP founder said.
In his video appeal, Dipke addressed the fear of jail and stated that we, as Indians, cannot live in fear anymore. “This country does not belong to any one party. This country belongs to all of us. It is a question of our future,” he said. Dipke added that it is our responsibility as Indians to raise our voice in a “peaceful and democratic manner.”
“It is our turn to do something for our country. Because if we don’t do anything today, who will? How long will we wait for someone else to come, raise their voice and save us? So all the peaceful and cockroaches who believe in the constitution, let’s all come together to save the future of millions of students,” he added further.
