Delhi HC Asks NTA to Respond to NEET-UG Candidate’s Plea Alleging Biometric Failure
The High Court asked NTA to file its response and listed the matter for hearing on June 27;
The Delhi High Court on Thursday, June 26, 2025, asked the National Testing Agency (NTA) to respond to a petition filed by a NEET-UG 2025 candidate who faced a faulty biometric verification system at his examination centre, which left him mentally disturbed. The candidate has sought compensatory marks in light of the circumstances.
Vacation judge Justice Prathiba M. Singh had issued notice to the NTA on June 20. The court directed the preservation of CCTV recordings, logbook entries, and any other registers at the test centre, subject to further orders.
The instant petition has been filed by a candidate who appeared for the NEET-UG 2025 exam on May 4 at Trishla Devi Kanohar Lal Balika Inter College in Meerut, Uttar Pradesh.
According to the plea, during the initial biometric stage, the system malfunctioned and failed to verify his credentials. He was allowed entry only five minutes before the exam began.
It has been alleged that the candidate was first asked to submit a written application requesting permission to enter the exam hall. Even after the exam commenced, the plea alleged that he was asked to step out again for biometric verification and was required to submit another written application, both in English and Hindi, to the centre superintendent.
It is the petitioner's case that these procedural disruptions caused considerable mental distress, and despite this, he still managed to score 98.86 percentile.
In this backdrop, the petition has sought compensatory marks. The petitioner’s counsel also argued that his situation is covered by a Supreme Court precedent allowing compensatory marks in cases where procedural irregularities affect a candidate’s performance.
It was further brought to the court’s attention that NEET counselling is set to begin on July 1, and therefore, an expedited hearing was sought.
Taking note of this, the court directed that the NTA file a counter-affidavit responding to the allegations.
The matter is now listed for further hearing on June 27.