Supreme Court dismisses plea challenging six answers in NEET-UG 2026 re-exam

The Supreme Court on Monday dismissed a petition filed by a student challenging correctness of answers announced for six questions in the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test-undergraduate (NEET UG) examination held on June 21.

A Bench of Justices PS Narasimha and Alok Aradhe rejected the plea by one Gayatri Arun, a candidate from Kerala, who called for the publication of a revised merit list.

After the original NEET-UG 2026 examination, held on May 3, was cancelled following allegations of a paper leak, the National Testing Agency (NTA) conducted a re-examination on June 21.

The petitioner had challenged NTA's answers to six questions in the re-exam, across the subjects of Chemistry, Botany and Zoology. Her plea stated that the official answers for these six questions in the NEET-UG paper were demonstrably inconsistent with the prescribed NCERT textbooks. She pointed out that even a single incorrect answer can significantly alter a candidate's All India Rank. 

He counsel yesterday argued that marks awarded on the disputed questions could not stand and that a revised, corrected merit list ought to be published without delay before counselling commenced.

She sought a reference of these answers to independent subject experts, along with a corresponding update to her rank and protection of her seat in the ongoing admission cycle.

The Court, however, found no reason to interfere in the matter and dismissed her plea.

"Having heard learned counsel for the petitioner and on carefully perusing the material placed on record, we are not inclined to entertain this petition under Article 32 of the Constitution. The Writ Petition is, accordingly, dismissed," the Court said.

The petitioner had earlier approached the Kerala High Court in the matter. At the time, the candidate flagged concerns that while placing objections to the official answers to the six NEET questions, certain technical glitches had prevented her from uploading supporting material. She sought to ensure that the supporting material is properly examined by the NTA, and suggested a three-day gap between the final answer key publication and result declaration.

By an order passed on July 7, Justice Bechu Kurian Thomas dismissed this plea.

The High Court observed that courts are not equipped to evaluate answer keys and that delays in declaring the result would prejudice other candidates.

A Division Bench of Justices Anil K Narendran and Muralee Krishna S later upheld the single judge's view.

The NTA published the final key and declared results on the same night in quick succession, leaving candidate no window to challenge the final key before results were finalised.

Before the Supreme Court, the petitioner argued that challenging the factual correctness of the answer key constituted a fresh, distinct cause of action from her earlier procedural challenge regarding the timing of the result declaration.

The Supreme Court was, however, not persuaded to interfere and dismissed the petition, leaving the NTA’s declared results and merit list intact.

Advocate Sachin Patil represented the petitioner.