Latest news with #C.Kumarappan
The Hindu
21 hours ago
- Politics
- The Hindu
Madras High Court refuses to order re-conduct of NEET-UG 2025 for candidates affected by power outage
The Madras High Court on Friday (June 6, 2025) dismissed a batch of writ petitions seeking a re-conduct of the National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test-Undergraduate (NEET-UG) 2025 for candidates who had experienced power outages at the centres where they appeared for the exam. Justice C. Kumarappan said, when the National Testing Authority (NTA), after field verification, had arrived at a reasonable conclusion that the power outage had not impacted the candidates' performance, such a conclusion must be accepted by the court unless there was any malafide intention. 'In the instant case, I do not find any malafides on the part of the respondent. Further, all over India, there were about 22 lakh students who had participated in NEET-UG 2025 examination. In such view of the matter, if any re-examination is ordered, it would seriously affect level playing field of two million candidates,' he observed. A group of candidates who had appeared for NEET-UG 2025 at the centres in Avadi, Kunrathur, and K.K. Nagar in Chennai had approached the court, contending that the power outage had seriously impacted their performance and therefore, a re-examination must be conducted for them and other affected candidates. However, Additional Solicitor General AR.L. Sundaresan told the court that the NTA had conducted a scientific assessment and did not find any impact on the performance of the students because of the power outage. He told the court that the examination was conducted in broad daylight. Stating that the candidates, who had approached the court, would not have been able to shade the OMR sheets properly had there been any impact, he said, the number of questions answered by the students was much higher than the district average. Though the High Court, during the summer vacation last month, passed an interim order restraining the NTA from releasing the NEET-UG 2025 results until the completion of an inquiry into the candidates' complaints regarding the power outage, the interim order stands vacated in view of the dismissal of the main writ petitions.
The Hindu
3 days ago
- General
- The Hindu
‘Power outage in NEET centres did not impact students' performance'
There has been no impact on the performance of NEET candidates due to power outage at three different examination centres in and around Chennai on May 4, 2025, the National Testing Agency (NTA) told the Madras High Court on Tuesday. Appearing before Justice C. Kumarappan who was seized of writ petitions filed by a group of candidates, Additional Solicitor General (ASG) AR. L. Sundaresan said, the NTA had conducted a scientific assessment and found no such impact. He said the examination was conducted in broad daylight, and hence, the power failure did not make much of a difference. Moreover, the students could not have marked the OMR sheet if there had been any impact, he added. Stating that the number of questions answered by the students before the court was compared with the district average, he said, such comparison showed that the students had answered a higher number of questions than the district average. However, the petitioners' counsel wondered how such a defence could be taken by the NTA against the helpless students who had undergone a great deal of anxiety due to power outage, and consequently, could not perform to the best of their abilities. After hearing both sides, the judge directed the High Court Registry to list the matter under the caption 'For Orders' on Friday. Though the petitioners' counsel insisted on restraining the NTA from releasing the NEET 2025 results till then, the judge refused to pass any such interim order. The ASG told the court that a summer vacation judge had directed the NTA not to release the results until the agency conducted an inquiry and found out whether the power outage in the three centres had any impact on the performance of the candidates. Now that the inquiry is over, there should not be any impediment on releasing the results, he said, and urged the court to dismiss all three writ petitions filed by students who had appeared for NEET at the centres in Avadi, Kunrathur, and K.K. Nagar in Chennai.
