Politics · India Bureau
No OMR sheet tampering in NEET-UG retest, says Solicitor General
India's Solicitor General Tushar Mehta has asserted before the Delhi High Court that there was no tampering with answer sheets in the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test retest. His statement came during arguments on a public interest petition challenging the examination's integrity.
LSN India ·
Solicitor General Tushar Mehta told the Delhi High Court on Wednesday that allegations of large-scale tampering with OMR sheets in the NEET-UG retest lacked substance and should not be allowed to set a narrative. Appearing before a bench comprising Chief Justice D K Upadhyaya and Justice Tejas Karia, Mehta stressed that no tampering had occurred in any OMR sheet.
"There is no tampering in any OMR sheet. None of this has happened. Don't sensationalise," Mehta submitted to the court. He cautioned against what he termed "loose kind of drafting and arguments" that made unsubstantiated claims about the test's conduct.
The Delhi High Court was hearing a public interest petition filed by two NEET-UG candidates seeking additional marks for themselves and other similarly affected candidates for certain dropped questions. The petitioners have also sought the scrapping of the National Testing Agency, which conducts the examination. One of the petitioners alleged that her OMR sheet had been tampered with, prompting the plea for an expert committee to investigate irregularities in the examination.
The retest was conducted following controversy over the original NEET-UG examination held earlier this year. The Centre's assertion in court that the retest process was conducted without irregularities aims to counter persistent concerns raised by medical aspirants about the examination's fairness and transparency.