The Calcutta High Court has sought a response from the National Testing Agency (NTA) after a NEET-UG 2026 candidate alleged a major difference between the marks she calculated from the official answer key and the score reflected in her result. Hearing the matter, Justice Amrita Sinha directed the examination authority to file its affidavit by July 28, when the case will be taken up again.
The petitioner, Sreja Mahanti, a medical aspirant from Dankuni in West Bengal's Hooghly district, appeared in the NEET-UG re-examination conducted on June 21, 2026. The re-test had been organised after the original examination was cancelled across the country following allegations of paper leaks and other irregularities.
According to the writ petition, after receiving her Optical Mark Recognition (OMR) sheet and the final answer key issued by the NTA, Mahanti compared her recorded answers with the official key. She claimed that her calculation showed a score of 659 out of 720.
However, the scorecard released by the NTA awarded her 289 marks, leading to an alleged difference of 370 marks. The petition states that despite submitting several representations seeking verification of the result, no corrective action was taken.
The candidate has argued that the discrepancy has affected her opportunity to participate in the ongoing counselling process for admission to government medical colleges.
During the hearing, Justice Amrita Sinha directed the NTA to place its stand before the court through an affidavit.
“The bench directed the National Testing Agency to file its response by July 28,” the order recorded, keeping the matter pending for further consideration.
The petition contends that the alleged error in evaluation is arbitrary and violates the petitioner's constitutional rights under Articles 14 and 21. It also relies on the High Court's powers under Article 226 of the Constitution, seeking judicial directions for verification and correction of the OMR-based evaluation if an apparent error is found.
The Calcutta High Court did not examine the merits of the candidate's claim at this stage. It directed the National Testing Agency to file its affidavit setting out its response to the allegations by July 28, 2026, and listed the matter for further hearing on the same date.
