NEET 2021: Kerala High Court Permits Candidate Alleging Discrepancies To Verify OMR Sheet In Presence Of NTA Officials

The Kerala High Court on Friday ordered the Joint Director of National Testing Agency (NTA) to permit a candidate to verify the original OMR sheet and calculation sheet in the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET), in presence of officials.

Justice N Nagaresh directed the petitioner to appear with her parents before the officials within two weeks:

"In view of the peculiar facts and circumstances of the case, it is directed that the petitioner along with her parents can be present before the Joint Director of the 2nd respondent agency (NTA) within two weeks. If the petitioner produces a copy of this order, the respondents or the Joint Director, as the case may be, shall permit the petitioner to verify the original OMR sheet and calculation sheet in the presence of the officials." 

The Court was adjudicating upon a plea filed by a candidate who attended the NEET-UG 2021 exam, seeking a directive to NTA to produce the original OMR answer sheets before the Court and to re-evaluate her answer sheets based on the provided answer key.

The petitioner was present in person before the Court on Thursday and admitted the personal details appearing on the OMR sheet but strongly disputed the entries seen on the bubbling portion.

According to the petitioner, she had attempted much more questions than what appears on the OMR sheet. She relied on the test booklet which is produced before the court to make her submissions.

Accordingly, it was urged that she be allowed to verify the original OMR sheet since according to her, the copy of the OMR sheet that has been produced before this Court does not disclose the true state of affairs. 

The matter will be taken up next on 29th November.  

Senior Advocate George Poonthottam and Advocates Nisha George and Chithra P George appeared for the petitioner. 

Recently, another candidate had complained of manipulation in her NEET OMR answer sheet. This matter is still pending before the Bench, and an enquiry has been ordered into the same.  

Case Title: Aswathi P v. Union of India

Click Here To Read/Download The Order