UGC-NET 2024 cancellation: CBI register case against unknown people

New Delhi: The CBI on Thursday registered a case against unknown people in connection with the malpractices in the now scrapped UGC-NET examination, a day after the government made it public that the test was compromised.

The agency has invoked sections 120-B (criminal conspiracy) and 420 (cheating) of the Indian Penal Code following a complaint filed by Secretary (Higher Education) K Sanjay Murthy on Wednesday.

"It has been alleged in the complaint that University Grants Commission (UGC) received inputs on 19.06.2024  from National Cyber Crime Threat Analysis Unit of Indian Cyber Crime Coordination Centre(I4C) under Union Ministry of Home Affairs  that integrity of UGC Net -2024 Examination, conducted by National Testing Agency(NTA) on 18.06.2024 in two shifts across different cities in the country, may have been compromised," a CBI statement said.

In his complaint, Murthy said that the government has decided to cancel the examination to ensure the highest level of transparency and sanctity of the process and hand over the case to the CBI for thorough investigations.

Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan on Thursday said that the Indian Cyber Crime Coordination Centre(I4C) had informed around 3 PM about the leakage of the question paper in darknet prior to the start of the exam.

"Soon after it was clear that the UGC-NET question paper on DarkNet matches the original question paper of UGC-NET, we decided to cancel the examination," he said.