NEET 2018: CBSE moves SC against Madras HC order awarding 196 grace marks to those who took exam in Tamil

The Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) on Monday moved the Supreme Court against a Madras High Court order awarding 196 grace marks to all candidates who appeared for the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET) in Tamil, according to a report in The Hindu. According to a report in  NDTV, CBSE had been thinking of challenging the apex court decision on grounds that the original notification for the exam said that for regional languages, in case of any discrepancy the English version would be treated as final. As a consequence of the Madras High Court order, Medical Counselling Committee (MCC) has suspended the second round of counselling for All India Quota seats. The allotment list will be released after the matter has been resolved, NDTV reported. The Madurai bench of the Madras High Court on 10 July ordered the CBSE to grant 196 marks—four marks each for 49 erroneous questions—in the Tamil version of the NEET. The petitioner, senior CPM leader and Rajya Sabha MP TK Rangarajan, sought full marks for the 49 questions, and said students were confused due to wrong translation from English. [caption id=“attachment_4511175” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Representational image. PTI[/caption] The information bulletin of NEET exam said that “candidates opting for regional languages would be provided bilingual test booklets in selected regional languages and in English. In case of any ambiguity in translation of any of the questions, its English version shall be treated as final”. Sources said the CBSE could highlight this ground while challenging the high court order. The NEET exam is conducted for admissions to MBBS/BDS courses in colleges run with the approval of Medical Council of India/Dental Council of India under the Health Ministry. NEET was conducted on 6 May across 136 cities in 11 languages, the results of which were announced on 4 June. In Tamil Nadu, about 1.07 lakh candidates took the test across 170 centres in 10 cities. With inputs from PTI