The Kerala High Court (HC) issued an order on Saturday, June 3, instructing the National Testing Agency (NTA) to allow a Kerala student to participate in the reexamination of National Eligibility cum-Entrance Examination for Undergraduate (NEET-UG). This decision was made due to a discrepancy in the test booklet. The student will take the reexamination scheduled to take place in Bengaluru on June 6, alongside Manipur students, as reported by The New Indian Express.
The court's decision came in response to a petition filed by Minha Sadique of Kannur. She sought a directive from the court to the NTA for a reexamination as she lost an hour of her examination time due to an issue with the booklet. The court also noted that if the petitioner takes the exam on June 6, the results of her previous exam on May 7 will be invalidated. As a result, the petitioner will not be able to request that the better of the two results be considered.
According to the report, on May 7, the petitioner's exam began at 2 pm. However, she discovered that her test booklet was missing four pages of the Chemistry section halfway through the exam. The petitioner's counsel, advocate Nandagopal S Kurup, stated that she brought this issue to the attention of the invigilators, who provided her with a new booklet at 3.30 pm.
The counsel also referred to a case in the Mumbai HC where relief was granted to a student who had suffered an injury due to the rush at the exam centre. This student was allowed to retake the exam along with the Manipur students.
In response, the NTA's counsel argued that a fresh booklet was offered to the candidates within 30 minutes of the report and the candidate was given an additional 30 minutes as compensation for the time it took to replace the booklet. However, the court observed discrepancies in the test booklet provided to the student.
