Summary
In a significant update, the Madhya Pradesh High Court in Indore has directed the National Testing Agency (NTA) to conduct a re-examination of NEET UG 2025 for candidates affected by a power outage at exam centres in Indore and Ujjain.
The court acknowledged that the students were unfairly disadvantaged during the exam without any fault on their part and instructed that their rank from the re-test be considered for admissions.
In a significant update, the Madhya Pradesh High Court in Indore has directed the National Testing Agency (NTA) to conduct a re-examination of NEET UG 2025 for candidates affected by a power outage at exam centres in Indore and Ujjain. The court acknowledged that the students were unfairly disadvantaged during the exam without any fault on their part and instructed that their rank from the re-test be considered for admissions.
The verdict, delivered by Justice Subodh Abhyankar, comes just as the Medical Counselling Committee (MCC) was preparing to commence NEET UG 2025 counselling. The court ruled that while the counselling process can begin, admissions would remain provisional and subject to the final results of the re-exam for the affected students.
The decision follows petitions filed by nearly 200 candidates, who alleged severe disruptions due to power cuts during the NEET UG exam held on May 4, 2025. Petitioners claimed they had to write their papers in poor lighting conditions, without being given extra time for the interruption. Several centres, including ILVA Higher Secondary School, Shri Vaishnav Academy, and Madhav College in Indore, were reportedly affected.
While the NTA and Solicitor General of India, Tushar Mehta, defended the agency’s preparedness — citing backup arrangements like inverters, torches, and emergency lights — students and parents maintained that the situation impacted their performance. The NTA argued that data analysis of the marks showed no adverse effect, with several students from affected centres scoring over 600 out of 720 marks.
The court, however, emphasised that natural justice warranted a fair opportunity for the aggrieved students. It has instructed the NTA to hold the re-exam at the earliest and consider only the scores from the re-test for ranking purposes.
Notably, the court also specified that only those candidates who filed their petitions before June 3, 2025, the date when the provisional answer key was released, would be eligible for the re-test. Candidates who waited until after the result declaration would not be entitled to this opportunity.
This ruling will likely delay the MCC NEET UG counselling process for 2025, which involves over 12 lakh qualified candidates, as authorities now await the outcome of the fresh exam for the Indore and Ujjain students.
Last updated on 01 Jul 2025
