NEET UG 2021: 'No tampering' by NTA, SC dismisses plea alleging discrepancies in results

NEET UG 2021: At least six students had filed a writ petition in the Supreme Court alleging tampering of their NEET-UG OMR results by the National Testing Agency (NTA).

The Apex Court on Monday ruled that there was no act of tampering or manipulation involved in the back office of NTA. The petitioners informed the court that there was a difference in their final scores computed on the basis of the answer keys and the final results. 

'No tampering' by NTA, Supreme court dismisses plea alleging discrepancies in NEET UG Result 2021

A bench of justices comprising Justice DY Chandrachud and Justice AS Bopanna observed that "It cannot prima facie be suggested that there was an act of tampering or manipulation in the back office of NTA," The bench highlighted that only six candidates out of the 15.44 lakh candidates who appeared for the NEET-UG exam raised this issue. 

One of the candidates alleged that there was some fault in the result. He informed the court that his score, which was calculated through the NEET UG 2021Answer Key, was 584, but he only secured 164 marks in the final result. Similarly, another petitioner alleged that based on the NEET-UG Answer Key, his marks would be 545 but he secured zero in the final result. Meanwhile, the petitioners cited other discrepancies in the medical exam, including the NEET paper leak case.

Petitioners stated, "There are malpractices and corrupt practises which are going on at levels which the innocent, deserving, and meritorious petitioners cannot imagine, which have resulted in the arbitrariness and rejection of meritorious candidates and, as such, are violative of their rights under Article 14 of the Constitution of India."

The NEET UG Exam was held by the National Testing Agency on September 12, 2021, and the NEET UG 2021 results were announced on November 1. A total of 15,44,275 students participated in the NEET UG 2021 Exam, out of which 8,70,074 students qualified for the exam. 

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