Madhya Pradesh High Court orders NEET re-test for students affected by power outage in Indore, Ujjain

The Madhya Pradesh High Court has ordered a re-conduct of the National-Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test (NEET) for undergraduate (UG) medical college admissions for candidates who appeared at the Ujjain and Indore centres, following complaints that power outages disrupted the exam at these centres [Laxmi Devi v. National Testing Agency & Ors.]..The Court was informed that thunderstorms in these areas led to power disruptions at multiple centres in Indore and Ujjain, thereby impacting the students' ability to write the exam. Over 100 petitions were filed before the Court to highlight this. Justice Subodh Abhyankar observed that the petitioners established valid grounds for intervention under Article 14 of the Constitution, as they were unfairly disadvantaged by a power outage.The Court, therefore, directed the National Testing Agency (NTA) to conduct a re-examination at the earliest and declare the results, clarifying that the petitioners’ ranks will be determined solely based on their re-test scores."In such facts and circumstances of the case, this Court is of the considered opinion that the petitioner/s has/have made out a case for interference under Article 14 as her/they, without there being any fault on their part, was/were put into a disadvantageous position due to power outage, which condition did not prevail in the other examination centre or even in the same centre where some of the students were sitting at favorable spots having sufficient natural light. Accordingly, the petition stands allowed, and it is directed to the respondent No.1 National Testing Agency to conduct the examination as expeditiously as possible and declare the results. It is made clear that the petitioner/s rank based solely on her/their scores in the re-test shall be considered," the Court ordered..The petitioners before the Court had contended that several examination centres experienced a power outage lasting 1–2 hours due to thunderstorms, and that no adequate backup arrangements were in place. As a result, candidates were compelled to write the exam in near darkness without being granted compensatory time.In support of their claims, the petitioners placed on record video footage, media reports, and statements made by the District Collector of Indore acknowledging the weather-induced power disruption..Appearing for the NTA, Solicitor General Tushar Mehta submitted that there was no adverse impact on student performance. He cited an expert committee report, which concluded that there was no significant deviation in average scores between affected and unaffected centres.The SG further argued that re-examination would compromise the sanctity of the process and put candidates who have already passed the examination at a disadvantage. He also cited a Madras High Court ruling where the Court declined to interfere despite the petitioners claiming that there was a power outage between 3 PM and 4.15 PM at the exam centre. .The High Court noted that the exam authorities had admitted that a power outage took place, and that they had to rely on alternative lighting arrangements like emergency lights and candles. It went on to hold that the lack of CCTV footage from some exam centres, despite being mandatory, raised concerns..The Court added that even brief interruptions in a high-stakes exam like NEET could disturb a student’s mental focus, adversely affecting performance. The judge also rejected the NTA’s reliance on statistical analysis to contend that there were no deviations found in average exam scores between students at centres that suffered power outages and centres where the exam proceeded without any such power disruption. “Such report which does not take into account the human emotions prevailing at that time, cannot be blindly accepted on its face value,” the Court observed.The Court further noted that the Collector’s own video statement acknowledging the disruption and the need for future preparedness supported the petitioners’ case..Accordingly, the Court directed the NTA to conduct a re-examination exclusively for petitioners from the Indore and Ujjain centres who filed their petitions before the release of the provisional answer key on June 3, 2025. It clarified that those who approached the Court after this date would not be entitled to relief. The ongoing counselling process, which is set to tentatively begin on July 1, 2025, will remain subject to the results of the re-test..Advocates Mradul Bhatnagar, Akash Sharma, NS Bhati, Nitin Vyas, Amit Raj, Rajnish Yadav, Aman Mourya, Prakhar Karpe, Chinmay Mehta, Dharmedra Thakur, Atul Bukhariya, Madhusudan Dwivedi, Sapna Patwa, Ajay Ukas, Akash Sharma, Kirti Patwardhan, Jaswant Singh Chouhan, Rahul Yadav, Deesha Goyal, Ashish Choubey, Vikas Jain, and Arjun Pathak appeared for the petitioners.Solicitor General of India Tushar Mehta along with Senior Advocate Rupesh Kumar and Deputy Solicitor General of India Romesh Dave assisted by Advocates Pankhuri Shrivastava, Diksha Paliwal, Bhumika Dwivedi and Atharava Dave appeared for the respondent-authorities..[Read Order]