The Delhi High Court declined to entertain a petition on Wednesday that sought to dismantle the National Testing Agency (NTA) and investigate alleged irregularities in the NEET UG re-examination process. A Division Bench comprising Chief Justice Devendra Kumar Upadhyaya and Justice Tejas Karia observed that the requests made in the petition, treated as a public interest litigation (PIL) after being transferred from another court, were geared towards personal reliefs rather than broader public interest.
Mixed Prayers in the Petition
The Court remarked, “From a perusal of the prayer clause, we find that it is a mixed bunch of prayers made seeking relief in respect of the petitioner and also all candidates who appeared in re-NEET exams. Such a writ petition with the mixture of prayers, in our opinion, cannot be entertained.” This decision highlights the importance of clear and distinct reliefs when filing public interest litigations.
Government’s Stand
Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, representing the Central government and the NTA, countered the allegations, denying any malpractice or discrepancies in the NEET re-examinations. He further stated that there was no tampering with the OMR sheets, as alleged by the petitioners.
Petitioner’s Arguments
The petition was filed by two NEET aspirants, Rishi Kailash and Fatima Kounser, who sought directions for the government to dismantle the NTA and halt its role in conducting any future national-level examinations. They also requested the appointment of an independent agency to manage such significant exams. Kailash, who appeared for the NEET-UG 2026 re-examination, cited several discrepancies, including alleged tampering with OMR sheets.
The plea also challenged the NEET-UG 2026 re-exam results, requesting re-evaluation of the petitioners’ scores and proper handling of marks for a dropped question. Despite these claims, the Court decided not to entertain the plea in its current format.
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Future Legal Actions
The petitioners’ counsel, Advocate Abhisht Hela, sought permission to withdraw the plea to file fresh petitions with appropriate reliefs. He indicated plans to file a separate writ petition and a PIL seeking institutional reforms in the conduct of public examinations like NEET. The Court granted this request, stating that the plea would be “dismissed as withdrawn.”
