Indore, July 1 (PTI): The Madhya Pradesh High Court has ordered the National Testing Agency (NTA) to conduct a retest for NEET-UG candidates who faced disruptions due to power cuts at their exam centers, underlining that these students were put at a disadvantage through no fault of their own.
Citing Article 14 of the Indian Constitution, which guarantees equality and justice for all citizens, the court granted relief to the petitioners.
The National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test (NEET-UG), which is the entrance exam for undergraduate medical courses, was held on May 4. During this time, certain parts of the state were hit by a power outage caused by adverse weather conditions.
Justice Subodh Abhyankar, presiding over the Indore bench of the high court, reserved his decision last month after hearing arguments from various involved parties concerning the petitions filed by several NEET-UG candidates.
The petitioners' lawyer, Mridul Bhatnagar, informed PTI on Tuesday that the court's order dated June 23 will benefit 75 candidates affected by the power cuts at exam centers located in Indore and Ujjain.
The court's order acknowledged that the candidates were placed in a disadvantageous situation without any fault on their part due to the power outage. This outage had not impacted other centers or even some parts of the same centers where students had adequate natural light.
The court instructed the NTA to conduct the retest for the affected candidates as swiftly as possible and to declare the results. It emphasized that the petitioners' ranks should be determined solely based on their scores in the retest.
It was also clarified by the court that those who filed petitions post the declaration of the provisional answer key on June 3, 2025, would not benefit from this order.
The petitioners contended that the power outage, exacerbated by the adverse weather on May 4, negatively impacted their performance in the entrance exam, and thus they should be allowed to retake it.
On behalf of the NTA, Solicitor General of India Tushar Mehta referenced a committee's report, which stated that in most centers, alternative power arrangements were in place, and power was quickly restored following a complaint to the power distribution company.
Mehta also noted that candles, emergency lights, power backups, and inverters were available at the exam centers.
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