NEET-UG 2025: SC to hear re-test plea as students cite power cuts during exam in Madhya Pradesh
NEET-UG 2025:
The Supreme Court of India has agreed to hear a petition seeking a re-examination of the NEET-UG 2025 for students who claim their performance was affected by power outages at several examination centres in Madhya Pradesh.
The petition challenges an earlier decision by the Madhya Pradesh High Court which had rejected a similar plea.
The plea, filed on behalf of candidates from Indore and Ujjain, states that multiple exam centres experienced prolonged electricity disruptions during the test. The Supreme Court has issued a notice to the National Testing Agency (NTA), which conducts NEET-UG, seeking a response. The matter will be listed for hearing next week.
Power cuts reported across multiple centres
According to the petitioners, power outages occurred at more than 12 exam centres in Indore, lasting between one to two hours due to thunderstorms. The disruption allegedly prevented many candidates from attempting several questions. Emergency lighting arrangements, including battery lights and candles, were reportedly made available only around 4:30 PM, approximately 30 minutes before the exam concluded.
The students have argued that they were made to write the paper under inadequate lighting conditions without compensatory time, which put them at a disadvantage. In support of these claims, the petitioners submitted media reports, video evidence, and statements from the District Collector of Indore acknowledging weather-related power failures.
Initial relief from High Court overturned
A single-judge bench of the Madhya Pradesh High Court had initially ruled in favour of the students, directing the NTA to conduct a re-examination at the affected centres.
The Court held that the candidates were disadvantaged through no fault of their own, and ordered that the counselling process for admissions would remain subject to the outcome of the re-test.
However, this decision was later set aside by a Division Bench of the same High Court following an appeal by the NTA. The Division Bench relied on the findings of an expert committee which concluded that despite the power outages, sufficient natural light was available and that there was no significant deviation in the average scores between affected and unaffected centres.
The court also noted that only 70 out of 27,264 students had filed the original writ petitions.
Supreme Court to hear matter before counselling begins
The petitioners' counsel mentioned the matter before a bench of Justices Surya Kant and Joymalya Bagchi. Although the bench agreed to list the case for hearing next week, it declined an earlier date requested by the petitioners, who cited the upcoming counselling session scheduled to begin on July 21.
The NEET-UG 2025 examination was conducted on May 4, and the results were declared on June 14. A total of 22.09 lakh candidates appeared for the test, of whom 12.36 lakh qualified.
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