Delhi HC refused to entertain petition on scrapping of National Testing Agency

The petition said there were several discrepancies in the NEET UG re-examination, including tampering of the Optical Mark Recognition (OMR) sheets

The Delhi High Court on Wednesday refused to entertain a petition of two National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET) aspirants seeking the scrapping of the National Testing Agency (NTA) and an investigation into alleged discrepancies in the NEET-UG re-examination.

Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, appearing for the Centre and the NTA, refuted the allegations and submitted that there had been no tampering with the OMR sheets, as alleged.

A bench of chief justice DK Upadhyaya and justice Tejas Karia observed that the reliefs sought by the two NEET aspirants, Rishi Kailash and Fatima Kounser, were in the nature of personal reliefs and did not qualify as public interest litigation (PIL), following which the petition was withdrawn.

“From a perusal of the prayer clause, we find that it is a mixed bunch of prayers made seeking relief in respect of the petitioner and also all candidates who appeared in re-NEET exams. Such a writ petition with the mixture of prayers, in our opinion, cannot be entertained,” the court said in its order.

Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, appearing for the Centre and the NTA, refuted the allegations and submitted that there had been no tampering with the OMR sheets, as alleged.

NEET-UG paper conducted on May 3 was cancelled by the NTA due to a leak. A re-exam was ordered for June 21, triggering widespread outrage and panic among aspirants.

The court refused to consider the petition, on the day when the Centre had said that the current system in place for conducting the NEET-UG exam was “foolproof”.