NEET 2021: NTA's plea against HC's order of re-exam will be heard by SC today

The Supreme Court of India will hear the National Testing Agency’s (NTA) plea regarding not holding the National Eligibility cum Entrance Examination Undergraduate (NEET UG) 2021 again for two students today, 28 October. The plea challenged the Bombay High Court’s order of NEET 2021 re-exam for two candidates. Two petitioners, Vaishnavi Bhopali and Abhishek Shivaji, had alleged that they were handed question papers and answer sheets with different serial numbers. However, their OMR sheets and questions papers got mixed. Hence, the Bombay HC had ordered for re-examination. Due to this, the Bombay HC had ordered the National Testing Agency to conduct a fresh examination for the two candidates. The HC said that two students can not suffer for a mistake committed by invigilators and they should be given a chance. The order also stated that both the students should be informed in advance about their exam date and venue and their results could be declared along with other students. However, NTA moved to Supreme Court against the order for holding a separate exam. In its appeal, the agency had mentioned that NEET UG 2021 exam for more than 16 lakh candidates was conducted on 12 September but due to the HC order, results for these students are yet not declared. NTA also said that a further delay in the announcement of the NEET-UG 2021 result will affect the admission process to UG medical programs such as MMBS, BDS, BAMS, BUMS courses. NTA also pointed out that there was inconsistency in the statement of the petitioners. It further added that booklets were distributed to students at the scheduled time which was 1:50 pm. However, the booklets fell down during distribution and the test booklets and OMR sheets got mixed up. The Solicitor General appearing for the National Testing Agency, Tushar Mehta, has requested the Supreme Court, headed by Chief Justice NV Ramana, for an early hearing as the results were getting delayed due to the hearing.