The Supreme Court has agreed to hear a petition filed by six high-scoring candidates of the NEET-UG examination who allege significant discrepancies between the answers they marked on their optical mark recognition (OMR) sheets and the copies published by the National Testing Agency.
A three-judge bench comprising Chief Justice of India Surya Kant, Justice Joymalya Bagchi, and Justice V Mohana agreed to list the matter for hearing after the petitioners requested an urgent listing ahead of the upcoming medical counselling process.
Allegations Of Mismatched Answer Sheets
Representing the students, legal counsel informed the bench on Tuesday, August 4, that the six candidates had scored above 600 and 650 marks in the entrance test. Despite these high scores, the candidates contend that the OMR sheets uploaded to the testing agency’s official platform display responses that differ from what they actually submitted during the examination.
The counsel further stated that the affected candidates had sought clarification directly from the testing agency through official emails and in-person visits to its headquarters, but received no reply to their representations.
Background Of The 2026 Examination
The legal petition follows earlier disruptions to the NEET-UG 2026 examination cycle. The initial test, administered on May 3, was cancelled by authorities following confirmation of a question paper leak. The National Testing Agency subsequently re-conducted the national medical entrance examination on June 21.
