NEET UG 2025: Re-Exam could negatively impact 22 lakh candidates, Plea Rejected by Madras HC

The Madras High Court has recently rejected a petition demanding a re-examination of the National Eligibility Entrance Test Undergraduate (NEET UG) 2025. The court observed that conducting the exam again can have a negative impact on over 22 lakh candidates who have taken NEET UG 2025.

The plea was filed by a group of students who claimed to be affected by the power cut at the exam centre in Chennai. The students stated there had been a power cut at PM Shri Kendriya Vidyalaya CRPF-Avadi, Chennai, due to a storm and heavy rainfall. Due to a lack of facilities for inverters, the students had to write the exam under poor lighting conditions. The students claimed that they were asked to shift from their seats as the rainwater entered the exam hall, which caused them disturbance, and the centre did not give any extra time to complete the exam.

A field verification was conducted, in which the report stated that the performance of the candidate was not affected due to the power outage. However, the counsel for the petitioners contended that without CCTV footage to support the report, it seemed one-sided.

This Plea was rejected by Justice C Kumarappan, after considering the report submitted by the National Testing Agency (NTA). According to the NTA, even after the power cut during the examination, the same did not affect the performance of the candidates. The agency observed that the examination halls were adequately illuminated by natural daylight during the disruption, and the school authorities had arranged for a power backup system. The court observed that the decision of re-examination could have a major impact on more than 2 million candidates.

Rejecting the plea, the HC Bench noted that “When the National Testing Agency, after thorough investigation had arrived at the above conclusion, though such conclusion was disputed by the petitioners, this Court has found no grounds to deviate from the above conclusion, as there is no malice pleaded against the National Testing Agency… Therefore, when the Authority themself, after field verification and with the scientific method, had arrived at a reasonable conclusion that there are no grounds for re-examination, the same needs to be accepted, unless the said report is tainted with mala fides. In the instant cases, I do not find any mala fides on the part of the respondents.”