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The MP High Court has directed the NTA to conduct a NEET-UG retest for candidates who faced power cuts, as they were unfairly disadvantaged despite no fault of their own.
MP High Court orders NEET-UG 2025 retest for 75 students affected by power outage in exam halls.
The Madhya Pradesh High Court has directed the National Testing Agency (NTA) to conduct a re-examination of NEET-UG for candidates who were impacted by power outages at examination centres, observing that these students were placed at a disadvantage through no fault of their own.
Citing Article 14 of the Indian Constitution, which guarantees equality before the law, the court ruled in favour of the petitioners seeking relief.
The National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test (NEET-UG) for undergraduate medical admissions was held on May 4, when certain areas in Madhya Pradesh experienced electricity disruptions due to inclement weather conditions.
Justice Subodh Abhyankar of the Indore bench had reserved the verdict last month after hearing arguments from all parties on the petitions filed by several NEET-UG candidates.
Speaking to PTI on Tuesday, the petitioners’ advocate, Mridul Bhatnagar, stated that the High Court’s order dated June 23 would benefit 75 students who appeared for NEET-UG at centres in Indore and Ujjain amid power failures.
The court observed that the affected candidates were placed at a disadvantage not due to their own actions, but because of circumstances beyond their control. It noted that the power outage did not uniformly impact all candidates—even within the same centre—some students were seated in areas with adequate natural lighting, while others struggled without it.
The NTA has been instructed to conduct the re-exam at the earliest for these candidates and to declare the results based solely on the retest scores. The court emphasised that only the marks obtained in the re-examination should be used for ranking.
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“It is made clear that those persons who have filed the petition after the declaration of the provisional answer key, i.e., June 3, 2025, shall not be entitled to the benefit of this order,” the court specified.
The petitioners had contended that their performance was hampered due to the lack of electricity during the exam and that they should be granted another opportunity.
Representing the NTA, Solicitor General Tushar Mehta referenced a committee report which noted that backup arrangements were in place at most centres and that power supply was promptly restored upon complaints to the electricity board.
Mehta also submitted that measures such as candles, emergency lights, inverters, and other backup systems had been made available at the examination venues.
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