'Can't interfere': SC dismisses NEET-UG 2025 plea challenging answer key

NEET-UG 2025: The Supreme Court contended that it can only interfere in matters of national-level exams if systematic failings were found

Don't want to miss the best from Business Standard?

The Supreme Court (SC) on Friday dismissed a petition seeking a revision of the NEET-UG 2025 results over an alleged error in the final answer key, ruling that it would not entertain individual grievances stemming from a national-level examination, according to a report by LiveLaw.

 

A bench of Justices PS Narasimha and R Mahadevan refused to entertain the plea filed by candidate Shivam Gandhi Raina, who challenged the National Testing Agency’s (NTA’s) answer to question number 136 (code no 47). The petition had also sought a stay on the ongoing counselling process.

 

“We have dismissed identical matters earlier,” the bench said. “We agree there may be multiple correct answers, but we cannot interfere in an exam taken by lakhs of candidates. This is not an individual case; thousands could be affected.”

 

Candidate argued for extra marks, cited NCERT

Senior advocate R Balasubramaniam, appearing for the petitioner, argued that even a single mark could materially impact a candidate’s rank and career trajectory. He pointed to the apex court’s intervention in NEET-UG 2024, where errors in the exam were rectified following review by an expert committee from IIT-Delhi.

 

However, Justice Narasimha clarified that the 2024 case involved systemic irregularities and broader procedural concerns. “This is not the same context,” he said, declining the petitioner’s request to convene an expert panel for review.

 

The disputed question

The contested multiple-choice question asked: 

Cardiac activities of the heart are regulated by:

A- Nodal Tissue,

B- A special neural centre in the medulla oblongata,

C- Adrenal medullary hormones,

D- Adrenal cortical hormones.

 

While the NTA recognised Option 2 (A, B, and C) as the correct answer, Raina contended that, based on the NCERT Class XI Biology textbook, the answer should include all four options. He claimed that correcting the key would award him five additional marks, significantly improving his All India Rank of 6,783 and General Category Rank of 3,195.

 

Despite acknowledging the potential impact on individual students, the court reiterated that it would not intervene in the result declarations of a national-level examination unless systemic failings were involved.

 

With the dismissal, the NEET-UG 2025 counselling process will proceed.