The NTA will conduct the NEET UG retest on June 23 and the 1,563 candidates who were awarded grace marks for "loss of time" will be eligible to take it. The Delhi High Court on Wednesday dismissed a petition by a few students seeking permission to appear for the National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test (Undergraduate) retest conducted by the National Testing Agency (NTA) on June 23. The petition was filed by four candidates who appeared in the NEET UG medical admission exam in May, the results of which were announced earlier this month. Three of the four candidates reported to Vijaya Senior Secondary School to appear for the exam, while the fourth reported to Hardayal Public School. On June 13, the Centre and the NTA informed the Supreme Court that the grace marks awarded to 1,563 candidates for “loss of time” during the exams would be cancelled and a retest organised for those who want to sit for it afresh. As per the NTA’s decision, the candidates who received the grace marks in NEET UG have to either appear for a re-exam or accept the actual marks received by them without grace marks. The petitioners argued before the Delhi High Court that they were given a specific set of question papers and an OMR sheet, which they filled out. However, in the middle of the exam, their original question papers and OMR sheet were taken from them and replaced with a different set, they said. The petitioners claimed that this resulted in “loss of time” for which they had neither been compensated by granting extra time nor were they awarded “any grace marks”; they, therefore, prayed that they might be permitted to appear for the retest scheduled for Sunday.

A single-judge bench of Justice Manoj Jain said, “This court is conscious of the fact that Hon’ble Supreme Court is already seized of issue qua NEET examination. However, as fairly agreed by both sides, (the) present petition is on a different footing. The report of GRC (grievance redressal committee) is very specific and there is nothing to indicate that petitioners no. 1 to 3 are entitled to appear in re-test. They cannot be permitted to raise any grievance as they were given corresponding extra time. Finding no merit or substance, the present petition stands dismissed.” The high court noted the NTA’s submission and said the agency had comprehensively and elaborately considered all such aspects with respect to all the centres, including the two centres in question. The high court noted that, as per the final report given by the Grievance Redressal Committee (GRC), there was no loss of time with respect to the centre at Vijaya Senior Secondary School. “It has been, very fairly, admitted that after the examination process had initiated and set of question paper was distributed, within five minutes, another set of question paper was distributed but for the loss of time, all the candidates of said centre, which were 492 in number, have been duly compensated by giving corresponding extra time,” the order noted. The GRC’s report on this aspect states, “…The records and Reports are clear that the candidates were allotted 7-9 minutes extra time than 3 hrs 20 minutes (equal to 200 minutes 12000 seconds). Therefore, the Committee concludes that there has not been any loss of exam time for the 492 candidates at the Centre: Vijaya Sr. Sec. School…” The senior counsel appearing for the NTA informed the high court that the GRC’s report was submitted before the Supreme Court in another matter pertaining to the NEET-UG and the “report has been accepted” by the apex court.

The senior counsel said the grievance raised by said three petitioners is “totally misplaced as they were duly compensated by granting extra time”. With respect to the fourth candidate, the senior counsel submitted “on instructions” that the candidate had been granted “grace marks and in terms of the directions” of the Supreme Court and he is now “permitted and eligible” to appear in the retest scheduled on June 23. Meanwhile, the Supreme Court on Thursday stayed the proceedings before various high courts in regard to the NEET UG controversy, acting on the NTA’s petitions to transfer the matters to the apex court. It also said it was not staying the counselling scheduled to start on July 6 for undergraduate medical admissions “at this moment”.