The Madras High Court has dismissed a batch of petitions filed by students who sought a re-examination of the NEET UG 2025 due to alleged disruptions during the test. Justice C. Kumarappan ruled against the plea after thoroughly examining the report submitted by the National Testing Agency (NTA) and other involved authorities.
“In the instant cases, I do not find any mala fides on the part of the respondents. Furthermore, all over India, there were about 22 lakhs students who participated in the NEET (UG) 2025 examination. In such view of the matter, if any re-examination is permitted on trivial grounds, the same would seriously affect the level playing field of more than two million candidates. Hence, this Court does not find any merit in these writ petitions,” stated Justice Kumarappan while dismissing the petitions.
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The petitioners were students who had appeared for the NEET UG 2025 exam on May 4 at various centres in Chennai, including PM Shri Kendriya Vidyalaya CRPF Avadi, Padma Seshadri Bala Bhavan in K.K. Nagar, and others. They complained of severe disruptions due to power outages triggered by unexpected rain and storms during the exam hours from 2:00 PM to 5:00 PM. In some cases, students were reportedly forced to change examination rooms mid-test due to rainwater entering the premises.
The students alleged that they were made to write the exam in poor lighting without proper power backup and were not compensated with additional time. They further claimed that the National Testing Agency failed to respond to their email representations seeking a re-exam and thus approached the court.
The court had earlier stayed the declaration of NEET results on May 16, granting time for the students to present their grievances. Following this, the NTA carried out a detailed field verification, collecting reports from the Centre Superintendent, City Coordinator, NTA-appointed Observers, and Invigilators.
“Despite a brief power outage caused by a sudden storm, the examination halls were adequately lit with natural daylight. Power backup facilities were available and used. No irregularities or disruptions were reported during the exam, and no contemporaneous complaints were received from any candidates, including the petitioners,” the NTA’s report stated.
Further, a statistical analysis by an independent committee of statisticians, constituted by the NTA, revealed that the average number of questions attempted by candidates at the affected centres was consistent with those at other centres in the same district. This indicated no significant disadvantage in performance.
The examination was held during peak afternoon hours in early May with sufficient daylight. There were no deviations in candidate performance across centres. Allowing re-examinations would delay result processing and disrupt the academic calendar and admission process for lakhs of students, the NTA clarified in its report.
The Additional Solicitor General, representing the NTA, emphasized the national-level scale of the NEET UG and argued that any such re-examination based on isolated incidents would adversely impact the entire process.
While the students’ counsel contested the authenticity of the NTA’s findings, pointing to the lack of CCTV footage and terming the report as self-serving, the court found no evidence of malafide intent or procedural irregularity.
“When the Authority, after field verification and scientific assessment, has arrived at a reasonable conclusion, the same needs to be accepted unless the report is shown to be tainted with mala fides,” the judge remarked.
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In conclusion, the court dismissed the writ petitions (WP Nos. 18359, 19359, 19337, 19369 & 19004 of 2025), ruling that re-examination on such grounds would disrupt the fairness of the nationwide process and upheld the integrity of the existing examination.
Case Title: S. Sai Priya & Others v. Union of India
Case No.: WP No. 18359 of 2025
Date of Judgment: 06.06.2025
Judge: Justice C. Kumarappan
Petitioner Counsel: Mr. T. Saikrishnan, Mr. V. Baskaran, Mr. V. Ramana Reddy
Respondent Counsel: Mr. M. Sathyan (CGSC), Mr. AR. L. Sundaresan (ASG) for Ms. Sunithakumari for NTA
