Power outage hit NEET-UG centres in Indore and Ujjain on May 4. Court directs NTA to reconduct exam for 75 affected students.
Indore: Today, on June 30, In a significant ruling, the Indore Bench of the Madhya Pradesh High Court has directed the National Testing Agency (NTA) to re-conduct the NEET-UG 2025 examination for around 75 students.
These students had faced serious issues during the original exam held on May 4, 2025, due to power cuts at various exam centres in Indore and Ujjain.
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The affected students approached the court before June 3, 2025, claiming that the power failure on exam day disturbed their focus and performance.
Accepting their plea, the court clearly said that the re-examination must be conducted as soon as possible and that
“only the scores of the re-examination would be considered for determining the petitioners’ rankings.”
To understand the conditions under which students appeared for the exam, the judge recreated the exam hall situation during the hearing by turning off all the lights in the courtroom.
This action was meant to highlight the poor lighting conditions faced by some candidates. The judge’s move sent a strong message about the seriousness of the issue.
In a 19-page detailed judgment, the High Court pointed out that many students were placed at a disadvantage for no fault of their own.
The court wrote that
“students were put at a disadvantage despite no fault of their own.”
Some examinees sat in rooms that were dark or poorly lit, while others at the same centre had an advantage due to natural daylight. This unequal situation was considered unjust by the court.
During the June 9 hearing, Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, along with panel lawyer Rupesh Kumar and Deputy Solicitor General Romesh Dave, represented the NTA virtually.
They told the court that backup power systems were available at the exam centres. But advocate Mridul Bhatnagar, who was appearing for the students, disagreed.
He presented evidence, including a report from an observer appointed by the NTA itself. The report clearly stated that some centres did not have generators or proper lighting arrangements.
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Mridul Bhatnagar also asked the court to review reports from six exam centres in Ujjain that were reportedly affected by the power failure.
This issue started on May 4 when multiple centres in Indore and Ujjain suffered from power outages during a thunderstorm. Around 600 students were disturbed during the exam due to this. On May 15, the High Court took notice of the matter, stayed the result declaration, and asked the NTA for a reply.
Later, on May 19, NTA admitted in court that power disruptions of 10 minutes to one hour occurred at different centres.
Between May 22 and 29, the number of petitioners increased from 50 to over 85. However, the court fixed June 3, 2025, as the last date for petitioners to be eligible for the re-exam.
The petitioners had urged the court to allow all candidates from the affected centres to reappear for the exam.
They told the court that
“two hours of outage in Indore and 40–45 minutes in Ujjain”
severely impacted their performance and concentration. They also demanded CCTV footage from the exam halls and wanted the NEET-UG results to be delayed until a fair decision was made.
Interestingly, the NTA’s position changed during the hearings. At first, they said 24 centres in Indore were affected. Later, they corrected it to 18 centres in Indore and 6 in Ujjain.
The NTA also stated that over 2,000 students took their exams at these centres.
They claimed that
“adequate lighting was provided using generators and candles,”
but the report submitted to the court contradicted this.
It confirmed that
“power supply was disrupted at several centres.”
The NTA told the court that it was planning to set up a committee to look into the matter and decide about the re-exam. But the court overruled this and gave a direct order instead.
The final verdict makes it clear that only those 75 students who filed their petitions before June 3, 2025, are eligible for the re-exam. Also, students who already received their NEET-UG results but had filed petitions before June 3 will not be allowed to retake the exam.
The High Court concluded by directing the NTA to conduct the re-exam quickly and publish the results based solely on the new scores.
The court said,
“the re-exam must be conducted at the earliest, and results should be declared promptly.”
Case Title:
Ankita Bharti & Ors. v. National Testing Agency & Ors., WP No. 12386/2025 (Indore Bench, Madhya Pradesh High Court)
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