Supreme Court rejects plea alleging error in NEET UG 2025 answer key

The Supreme Court on Friday dismissed a petition by a student seeking correction of an alleged error in the final answer key to National Eligibility cum Entrance Test undergraduate exam 2025 (NEET UG 2025) [Shivam Gandhi Raina vs. National Testing Agency & Ors.].

A Bench of Justices PS Narasimha and R Mahadevan said it would not interfere with the results of a nationwide examination based on an individual’s grievance, even if the error claimed was a genuine one.

The petitioner, a candidate named Shivam Gandhi Raina, had challenged the correctness of question No. 136 from code No. 47 of the NEET-UG 2025 question paper.

He claimed that the answer marked by the National Testing Agency (NTA) was flawed. He sought a stay on the ongoing counselling process and revision of the final result.

The bench, however, reiterated that it cannot entertain such individual challenges once results are declared for a pan-India competitive exam.

The petitioner’s counsel, Senior Advocate R Balasubramanium argued that a similar intervention had been made by the Supreme Court last year in relation to NEET-UG 2024, where the Court had relied on an expert report submitted by IIT-Delhi to direct corrections.

“It is a matter affecting the career of the students. One mark difference will mean a lot. So many students are affected by this,” Balasubramaniam submitted. He also requested that an expert committee be constituted to examine the specific question.

The Court, however, drew a distinction between last year’s case and the present one.

“The Supreme Court’s interference in 2024 was due to widespread grievances regarding the discrepancies and shortcomings in the conduct of the exam,” Justice Narasimha said.

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