CUET | Henceforth Final Answer Key Of Exam Will Be Uploaded Prior To Declaring Result: NTA Assures Delhi High Court

The National Testing Agency (NTA) has assured the Delhi High Court that in future, the final answer key for Central University Entrance Test (CUET-UG) exam would be uploaded on its website at least a day prior to the final declaration of result.

Justice C Hari Shankar was given the assurance that the final answer key would be accessible only through the individual login ID and password of the candidate concerned.

The Court was also assured that any exercise of consideration of objections to the provisional answer key would be undertaken only prior to the final result of the CUET examination.

“The Court is satisfied with the explanation. The NTA is directed to ensure that these assurances are scrupulously adhered to, in future,” the court said.

Justice Shankar was dealing with two pleas filed by a candidate who appeared in CUET (UG) 2022 examination seeking direction on NTA to publish the final answer key and to reconsider the objections raised by him regarding two questions and a corrected score card be published.

ASG Chetan Sharma appearing for NTA submitted that re-examination of the answer keys after the final results were declared may have been avoidable but was undertaken bonafide, especially as a large number of objections were received even after the final result was declared.

It was further submitted that in the interest of the students, a decision was taken to reconsider the objections.

“The fact that the CUET was being conducted for the first time, and the magnitude of the exercise, had persuaded the NTA to adopt this approach,” the court noted.

The counsel appearing for the candidate did not press the prayer for fresh consideration of remaining objections to the provisional answer key.

In another petition, the candidate had moved an application seeking to amend the plea for a thorough investigation in the manner in which there was a re-examination of the answer keys and for summoning the records pertaining to normalization of scores of the CUET.

“I am not inclined at this point of time to direct any such investigation as it would lead to needless controversy and it does not appear that the NTA has, in acting as it did, not been bona fide. The substantive prayer in WP (C) 13617/2022, which was for making known the final answer key, stands satisfied,” the court said.

Counsel for Petitioner: Ms. Nidhi Gupta, Advocate

Counsel for Respondents: Mr. Chetan Sharma, learned ASG with Mr. Sanjay Khanna, Standing Counsel, NTA, Mr. Apoorv Kurup, Standing Counsel, CGSC, Ms. Pragya Bhushan, Mr. Karandeep Singh, Mr. Tarandeep Singh, Mr. Amit Singh, Mr. Vikramaditya Singh, Mr. Saurabh Tripathi, Ms. Navya Goel and Ms. Muskaan Gupta, Advocates

Title: AASHISH GUPTA v. UNION OF INDIA & ANR.

Citation: 2024 LiveLaw (Del) 84

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