NEET UG 2025: Madras High Court Rejects Appeal Seeking Re-Exam For Candidates Affected By Power Outage In Chennai

The bench of Justice J Nisha Banu and Justice M Jothiraman dismissed the appeal filed by a group of students, claiming that their performance was hindered due to the heavy rainfall and poor management by the center.

The court perused the order of the National Testing Agency, which was passed after conducting a field verification of the exam centres. The court said it has to uphold the integrity of the educational assessments in conducting examinations and it could not sit in appeal over the decision of the NTA, unless it was manifestly arbitrary, especially since a re-examination would affect more than 2 million other students.

Thus, the court observed that there was no reason to interfere with the decision of the single judge and, dismissed the appeal.

"This Court is of the opinion that it is crucial to uphold the integrity of the educational assessments in conducting examinations and this Court cannot sit in an appellate jurisdiction against the considered decision of the speaking order passed by the NTA, after field verification of examination centre and statistical analysis by an independent expert committee with no affiliation to the NTA, unless such decision is demonstrated to be manifestly arbitrary, mala fide or illegal. In such circumstances, if any re-examination is permitted, the same would severely affect more than two million candidates. Therefore, we do not find any reason to interfere with the order impugned and the writ appeal lacks merit and the same is liable to be dismissed," the court observed

The students submitted that the uncomfortable and distracting environment affected their ability to concentrate on the exam, hampering their ability to perform. It was also submitted that even after such an incident, the students were not given any extra time and they were not able to complete the exam. The students thus submitted that their legitimate expectation of being provided with adequate facilities was hindered. It was contended that the students who appeared for the exam at the affected centres were at a disadvantage compared to other students who wrote the exam at different centres.

The NTA, on the other hand, submitted that though there was a brief power outage, it would not have affected the performance of the students since the exam was conducted in the daytime and there was ample natural light in the exam centres. It was submitted that the students were not moved from their seats, and the disruption was minor. The NTA also submitted screenshots of CCTV footage to show that the exam centres had large windows with glass panels allowing ample ambient daylight to enter. 

The court noted that the NTA had conducted a field verification of the examination centre with the Centre Superintendent, City Coordinator, NTA-appointed Observers and Invigilators on duty in the examination halls, and also obtained written factual reports from all key functionaries deployed at the said centre. The court perused the detailed speaking order of the NTA based on the field verification, which clearly showed that the exam was not hindered. 

Thus, considering all the factors, the court dismissed the appeal after noting that there was reason to interfere with the single judge's order.

Counsel for Appellant: Mr.T. Saikrishnan

Counsel for Respondents: Mr.AR.L.Sundaresan Additional Solicitor General assisted by Mr.M.Sathyan Central Government Standing Counsel, Mrs.Sunitha Kumar Standing Counsel for NTA, Ms.Subharanjani Anand

Case Title: S. Sai Priya and Others v. Union of India and Others

Citation: 2025 LiveLaw (Mad) 227