The Supreme Court on Wednesday declined to grant interim relief to two NEET-UG 2025 candidates from Madhya Pradesh who sought permission to participate provisionally in counseling after alleging a power outage disrupted their exam.
A bench comprising Justices P S Narasimha and A S Chandurkar refused to issue interim directions but agreed to hear the matter in detail on July 25.
Candidates Challenge MP High Court Order
The petitioners, Navya Nayak and S Sai Priya, had approached the apex court challenging the July 14 order of the Madhya Pradesh High Court, which had denied their request for a re-test. Their legal counsel urged the court to allow them to attend counseling sessions while the case is pending, citing that the counseling process had already commenced.
NTA Opposes Re-Test Plea
Representing the National Testing Agency, Solicitor General Tushar Mehta strongly opposed the idea of a re-exam, arguing that it would disrupt the process for lakhs of students who had already taken the test without issue.
Mehta emphasized that the request for a re-test could not be entertained at this stage due to its broader implications on the fairness and logistics of the national exam process.
Previous Court Rulings On The Matter
The legal tussle began after a single-judge bench of the Madhya Pradesh High Court had earlier ordered the NTA to conduct a re-test for candidates who faced power outages at certain centres in Indore and Ujjain.
However, this ruling was later overturned by a division bench of the same high court, following an appeal by the NTA. The division bench acknowledged the reported power issues but referred to an expert committee report which found that natural light was sufficient for candidates to complete the exam despite the outage. The court also advised the NTA to take necessary precautions to prevent such disruptions in the future.
With the Supreme Court refusing provisional relief for now, the candidates will have to wait until July 25, when the matter is scheduled for a detailed hearing.
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