NTA’s decision to grant grace marks in the NEET-UG exams has been filed before the Delhi High Court. The court has summoned a response from the NTA regarding the matter.
Scheduled for hearing on Wednesday, the case contends that the NTA’s decision on grace marks is arbitrary and affects students. The Plea has been filed by 17-year-old student Shreyanshi Thakur. The case revolves around an anomaly observed in question number 29 of test booklet code R5. In the answer both options 2 and 4 were deemed correct contrary to exam instructions. The guideline permits only one correct option per multiple-choice question.
To compensate for the discrepancy, the NTA opted to award marks to students who selected either of the correct answers. The decision favoured the students who guessed or chose what they believed to be the correct response. The petitioner contends that this decision discriminates against candidates adhering to instructions, disadvantaging them in the ranking process and endangering their future prospects.
Moreover, the NEET-UG exam results, released on June 4, sparked controversy as an unusually high number of students (reportedly 67) secured a perfect score of 720 out of 720. It was revealed that 44 of these top scorers received full marks despite having answered one Physics question incorrectly, thanks to the provision of grace marks.
Simultaneously, a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) has been lodged in the Calcutta High Court, alleging irregularities in the exam’s conduct. The court, on June 6, summoned a response from the NTA and scheduled the next hearing after a fortnight. Meanwhile, the NTA has been instructed to retain all exam-related records until further notice.
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