Madhya Pradesh High Court Stays Its Own Order on NEET-UG Re-Test

In a significant turn of events, a Division Bench of the Madhya Pradesh High Court has stayed an earlier order by a single judge that directed the National Testing Agency (NTA) to conduct a re-examination of NEET-UG 2025 for 75 candidates. These students had moved the court alleging that power outages at exam centres in Indore and Ujjain on May 4 had adversely impacted their performance.

The original order was issued by Justice Subodh Abhyankar on June 23, who ruled in favour of the students, citing that they had been placed at a disadvantage due to circumstances beyond their control. The judge emphasized that these candidates were entitled to a re-test under Article 14 of the Constitution, which guarantees equality before the law.

Justice Abhyankar observed that while some students sat in areas with sufficient natural light, others faced dim lighting due to power failure. He said even a ten-minute disruption during the three-hour exam could disturb a candidate’s concentration, impacting performance significantly. The court even demonstrated the situation by dimming the lights in the courtroom during the hearing.

According to the order, only students who filed their petitions before the provisional answer key was released on June 3 were eligible for the re-test. The court had directed the NTA to conduct the exam "as expeditiously as possible" and to evaluate those students solely on the basis of the re-test scores.

However, following an appeal from the NTA, a Division Bench comprising Justices Vivek Rusia and Binod Kumar Dwivedi has now stayed the single Bench’s directive. The NTA had argued that there were no major disruptions during the examination and cited an expert committee report formed under the Indore Collector, which claimed that backup arrangements like emergency lights, inverters, and candles were made at most affected centres.

The Solicitor General of India, Tushar Mehta, appearing for the NTA, maintained that the examination was conducted fairly and no significant disruption was observed.

Despite this, Justice Abhyankar had criticized the expert report, stating it lacked consideration for "human emotions" and the psychological effect of sudden disruptions during a high-stakes exam. The court highlighted that the report focused primarily on technical data and failed to acknowledge the real-time stress and mental impact on students.

The Division Bench’s stay order now halts any immediate move to conduct a re-test. The matter is scheduled for the next hearing on July 10, 2025.

This development has once again brought into focus the debate over examination fairness, logistical preparedness at centres, and the extent of judicial intervention in academic matters.

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