On Tuesday, August 5, the Supreme Court ordered a manual review of a National Eligibility cum Entrance Test-Undergraduate (NEET-UG) 2025 applicant's response script, after he claimed that his question paper had incorrect page sequencing.
A panel consisting of Justices B V Nagarathna, and K V Viswanathan mandated that the evaluation's outcome be documented, reported Hindustan Times.
"He (petitioner) will have the satisfaction of getting his papers manually checked," the bench said.
The candidate stated that the NEET-UG question paper's page sequencing was incorrect.
The National Testing Agency (NTA) conducts the NEET-UG exam for applicants seeking admission to Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery (MBBS), Bachelor of Dental Surgery (BDS), Ayurveda, Yoga & Naturopathy, Unani, Siddha, and Homoeopathy (AYUSH), and other relevant programmes in public and private universities across the nation.
Archana Pathak Dave, the additional solicitor general, speaking on behalf of the respondents, explained that the error resulted from improper stapling, and produced a copy of the question paper on file.
Court’s observations
"The least that could be done is to give the questions in seriatim," the bench observed, and further added, "Look at the panic of the candidate. It is not an ordinary exam."
Responding to the concerns, the law officer explained that the stapling work was handled by "semi-skilled or semi-literate people".
She added, "If we give it to a literate person and if he staples it, we know for sure that one or two questions he can memorise and they can go out," terming the situation a "rarest of rare" instance.
However, the bench responded sharply, pointing out the serious consequences such lapses can have. "17-18 year old" students were dying by suicide, it remarked. "Please don't try to justify," the top court said, scheduling the next hearing for August 12.
