The Supreme Court on Friday set aside a Bombay High Court order which directed the National Testing Agency (NTA) to hold re-examination for two National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET) candidates, saying “we sympathise, but cannot order re-examination”.
It was claimed that the students’ test booklets and OMR sheets had gotten mixed up due to the carelessness of invigilators.
Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, appearing for NTA, submitted that answers of the students will be matched with the correct question booklets and added that if the direction to conduct NEET UG re-exam is provided, it will become a pattern.
The Centre told the top court that every year students will come forward and seek a re-exam for one mistake or the other.
The counsel appearing for students contended that they lost precious time during the exam due to the mix up and could not answer all questions.
However, a bench of justices L. Nageswara Rao and B.R. Gavai said the court sympathises with the students and completely understands their plight, but cannot order re-examination for them.
The Centre had moved the top court against the high court. In the previous hearing, the apex court had stayed the Bombay High Court order, which held up declaration of results.
The high court had directed the NTA to conduct re-exam for two candidates by conducting a separate NEET examination before declaration of results.
The top court said: “Though we sympathise with the cause of the two students. We find it difficult to order the re-examination of the two students. Thus, we set aside the direction of the high court to conduct a fresh exam.”
The students had claimed that their test booklets and OMR sheets got mixed up during the NEET exam.
The top court noted, “We feel sorry for the students… but cannot hold a re-examination.”
On October 28, the Supreme Court stayed the Bombay High Court order on NEET re-exam for two candidates, paving the way for declaration of results of over 16 lakh students who took the exam.
The NTA had moved the top court stating the result was being delayed due to the high court order.
The top court had said “we cannot hold up the results of 16 lakh students…”
The bench told the petitioner’s counsel “stay and notice… we will decide what happens to the two students upon re-opening (after Diwali vacation)…”
The bench noted that Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, representing the Central government, has said that whatever confusion is there, it will be rectified.
“You are talking about your clients but not considering the lakhs of students who are waiting for the results”, the bench told the petitioner’s counsel.
–IANS
ss/pgh
(Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Dear Reader,
Business Standard has always strived hard to provide up-to-date information and commentary on developments that are of interest to you and have wider political and economic implications for the country and the world. Your encouragement and constant feedback on how to improve our offering have only made our resolve and commitment to these ideals stronger. Even during these difficult times arising out of Covid-19, we continue to remain committed to keeping you informed and updated with credible news, authoritative views and incisive commentary on topical issues of relevance.
We, however, have a request.
As we battle the economic impact of the pandemic, we need your support even more, so that we can continue to offer you more quality content. Our subscription model has seen an encouraging response from many of you, who have subscribed to our online content. More subscription to our online content can only help us achieve the goals of offering you even better and more relevant content. We believe in free, fair and credible journalism. Your support through more subscriptions can help us practise the journalism to which we are committed.
Support quality journalism and subscribe to Business Standard.
Digital Editor
Stay connected with us on social media platform for instant update click here to join our Twitter, & Facebook
We are now on Telegram. Click here to join our channel (@TechiUpdate) and stay updated with the latest Technology headlines.
For all the latest Education News Click Here
