Today, On 6th June, Madras High Court denied a plea to re-conduct NEET-UG 2025 for candidates hit by a power outage, as Justice C. Kumarappan noted that such an order would unfairly impact the level playing field for 22 lakh aspirants.
The Madras High Court dismissed a series of writ petitions requesting a re-conduct of the National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test-Undergraduate (NEET-UG) 2025 for candidates who faced power outages at their exam centers.
Justice C. Kumarappan remarked that the National Testing Authority (NTA), after conducting a field verification, reasonably concluded that the power outages did not affect the candidates’ performance.
The court would accept this conclusion unless evidence of malafide intent was presented.
He noted,
“In the instant case, I do not find any malafides on the part of the respondent. Further, all over India, there were about 22 lakh students who had participated in NEET-UG 2025 examination. In such view of the matter, if any re-examination is ordered, it would seriously affect level playing field of two million candidates,”
A group of candidates from Avadi, Kunrathur, and K.K. Nagar in Chennai argued in court that the power outages significantly hindered their performance, warranting a re-examination for them and other affected test-takers.
However, Additional Solicitor General A.R.L. Sundaresan informed the court that the NTA performed a scientific assessment and concluded that the power outages did not impact student performance, as the exam took place during daylight hours.
He pointed out that had there been any effects from the outages, the candidates would not have been able to properly shade their OMR sheets.
Moreover, he stated that the number of answered questions by the students was considerably above the district average.
Although the High Court had previously issued an interim order during the summer vacation to prevent the NTA from releasing the NEET-UG 2025 results pending an inquiry into the power outage complaints, this order has been vacated due to the dismissal of the main writ petitions.
NEET-UG 2025 (National Eligibility cum Entrance Test for Undergraduate) is the national-level medical entrance exam in India conducted by the National Testing Agency (NTA) for admission to MBBS, BDS, AYUSH, and other undergraduate medical courses.
Case Title: S. Sai Priya and others v. Union of India
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