NEW DELHI, JUN 10 :  NEET applicants have filed a writ petition in the Supreme Court challenging the decision of the National Testing Agency (NTA) for granting grace marks to students in the National Entrance cum Eligibility Test (NEET) held this year.

The petition was filed by one Jaripate Karthik, hailing from Andhra Pradesh through Advocate on record Chand Qureshi that to give grace marks to the incorrect application under the ‘normalization formula’ is illegal, arbitrary, and in violation of Articles 14 and 21 of the Constitution of India.

According to the petitioner, the ‘normalization formula’ could not be applied in the present case as the exam is aimed to ascertain subject knowledge but the formula grants marks not by ascertainment but on the assumption of knowledge.

The petitioner contended, the “normalization formula” is flawed where all the questions have been attempted by a candidate because In case a candidate answers the questions wrong, then the “normalization formula” automatically does not apply, and; In case a candidate answers the questions correctly, then the candidate has already been granted its corresponding marks.

At best, if at all, it can only extend to the number of questions that may be left unanswered in proportion to the loss of time, given that each question has equal mark weightage therefore equal time distribution to answer each question can be assumed, the petitioner said.

Further, it was contended,” Since the exam was conducted in an offline mode there is “no standard to accurately measure the loss of time”. There have been no evaluations, or reports disclosed by the Authorities to justify the grant of grace marks in the event of alleged loss of time.”

“The examination having been conducted in offline mode cannot have a means of technical delay. Moreover, question papers presumably reach the Examination Centers well before the commencement of the examination.”

The Petitioners have urged the Supreme Court Registry for an urgent hearing.
On June 9, also a separate petition was filed in the Supreme Court to recall the NEET-UG 2024 results and to conduct a fresh examination.

The petitioners alleged arbitrariness in the grant of grace marks. It was contended that high marks of 718 and 719 out of 720 secured by several students were “statistically impossible”.

It was alleged that the grant of grace marks by the National Testing Agency, purportedly due to delay during the exam, was a mala fide exercise to give “backdoor entry” to certain students. The petitioners also raised suspicions about the fact that 67 students from one particular center got full 720 marks.

On May 17, the Supreme Court issued notice on another petition seeking cancellation of the NEET exam due to an alleged paper leak, however refused to stay the declaration of results.

The petition pertains to the grievance of students on the announcement made by the National Testing Agency (NTA) and the Union Education Ministry on June 8 on the formation of a four-member committee to review the results of over 1,500 candidates who were awarded “grace marks” to compensate for the “loss of time” suffered while appearing for this year’s NEET (Undergraduate) exam.(UNI)