5 days ago
Power outage: No need for NEET re-exam, NTA tells HC
Chennai: There is no need to conduct re-examination for NEET-2025, as the power outage on May 4 at a Chennai exam centre did not cause any significant disruptions, National Testing Agency (
NTA
) told
Madras high court
on Tuesday.
An inquiry revealed that the exam was not affected, and most students answered majority of the questions. Therefore, there is no need to conduct a re-exam, additional solicitor-general A R L Sundaresan said.
On May 17, a vacation judge of the court passed an interim order restraining the NTA from releasing the results of NEET-2025 due to alleged difficulties faced by a group of students because of a power cut at an examination center in Avadi.
The court passed the order on a plea moved by 13 students highlighting the issue.
On Tuesday, when the plea came up for hearing before Justice C Kumarappan, counsel for the students requested the court to direct the NTA to produce CCTV footage of the exam center to prove whether there was proper lighting during the exam. Recording the submissions, the judge adjourned the plea to June 6 for passing orders.
According to petitioners, at the Shri Kendriya Vidyalaya CRPF centre in Avadi, 464 students were issued admit cards to appear for the exam.
The exam began at 2 pm as scheduled. However, due to heavy rain, a power outage occurred from 3 pm to 4.15 pm. No backup power facilities were arranged at the centre. As a result, students had to write the exam in poor lighting conditions, they said.
Additionally, rainwater entered the exam hall, and students were asked to shift to another location, causing further disruption. Due to these difficulties, students were unable to fully demonstrate their abilities. A request made to exam authorities to allot additional time was also denied, the petitioners said.
