The Madhya Pradesh High Court delivered a significant ruling in favor of students who appeared for the NEET-UG 2025 exam under adverse conditions caused by a severe power outage at various centres in Indore and Ujjain. The Court directed the National Testing Agency (NTA) to conduct a re-test exclusively for those petitioners who had approached the Court before June 3, 2025, the date when the provisional answer key was released.
The bench, led by Justice Subodh Abhyankar, noted that the affected candidates were put at a disadvantage through no fault of their own. The Court held:
Read Also:- Supreme Court Refuses to Entertain Plea Seeking NEET UG 2025 Final Answer Key Before Results
“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...”
The issue arose when multiple candidates from centres in Indore and Ujjain filed writ petitions citing power disruptions during the exam held on May 4, 2025, from 2:00 PM to 5:00 PM. Petitioners reported the absence of power backup and insufficient natural light, impacting their ability to perform in the exam. Despite statistical analysis submitted by NTA denying any significant adverse effect, the Court took a more human-centered approach.
The Court tested the condition in the courtroom by switching off lights during the hearing and acknowledged the potential difficulty caused by inadequate lighting, particularly in exam centres lacking large windows or backup facilities. In one instance, a petitioner’s exam was disrupted for nearly 1.5 hours without any compensation of time or adequate lighting support.
“Even for ten minutes, if a student faces a difficulty in reading and writing due to power outage, the same has the effect of rattling one’s mental condition and disturbing their focus.”
While NTA argued that statistical data showed no performance dip and cited past judgments, including one by the Madras High Court, the Madhya Pradesh High Court distinguished this case due to the number of petitions and centres involved. Over 100 students from nearly 30 different centres had raised similar grievances.
Read Also:- NEET PG 2025: Supreme Court Rejects NBE's Two-Shift Format Argument, Directs Single Shift Exam
The Court dismissed concerns about the fairness of re-tests affecting other candidates, noting that only petitioners who acted before the provisional key date would benefit. It stated that the petitioner’s rank would be decided solely based on their performance in the re-test.
“It is made clear that the petitioner/s rank based solely on her/their scores in the re-test shall be considered.”
Moreover, the order clarified that the scheduled counselling will be subject to the final results of the re-test.
“The counselling shall be subject to the final result of the petitioner/s in the re-test.”
