The National Testing Agency on Monday knocked on the doors of the Supreme Court, filing an appeal against the decision of the Bombay High Court which had directed it to postpone the results of the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET) Undergraduate results. The NTA said that the future of 16.1 lakh students hangs in the balance with these results and it would not be fair to keep all these aspirants waiting for the sake of two students. The NTA said that it is unable to release the results even though they are ready.
"The delay in declaration of Result of NEET (UG) 2021 will affect and further delay the subsequent process of admission to Undergraduate Medical Courses ie MBBS, BDS, BAMS, BSMS, BUMS and BHMS Course," the NTA said in the appeal. Advocate Rui Rodrigues, who appeared for the NTA had told the Bombay HC that it was "not possible" for the exam authority to allow the petitioners to reappear for the exam.
The HC judges, however, held that the petitioners "shall not suffer because of the mistake on the part of the respondents." They directed the NTA to hold a "fresh examination for the two petitioners for the academic year 2021-22." The NTA has also claimed before the Supreme Court that the High Court had not given importance to the fact that the situation with the two students was suspicious, and encouraging their claims would give wings to other students with ill-intentions to misuse the system.
The order was passed by the court on October 20 after the two aggrieved students filed a petition through Advocate Pooja Thorat. It also directed the testing agency to declare the concerned students' results within two weeks. The petitioners told the court that all NEET candidates are given a question paper and an answer booklet bearing the same code and the same seven-digit serial number. They said that it was only because of a mix-up by invigilators that some students, including the petitioners, received question papers and answer booklets bearing different codes and serial numbers.
