The Supreme Court on Monday dismissed a petition challenging the correctness of the official answers to six questions in the NEET-UG 2026 examination, declining to order a fresh evaluation or re-examination.
A Bench of Justice PS Narasimha and Justice Alok Aradhe refused to interfere with the final answer key issued by the National Testing Agency (NTA) following the NEET-UG 2026 re-test held on June 21.
The petition, filed by a candidate from Kerala, contended that the NTA had adopted incorrect answers for six questions, resulting in an inaccurate assessment of candidates’ performance. The petitioner sought correction of the disputed answers, revision of the results and merit list, and consequential relief for affected candidates.
Rejecting the plea, the Bench reiterated that courts ordinarily do not sit in appeal over the opinions of expert academic bodies. It observed that evaluating the correctness of answers in a competitive examination falls within the domain of subject experts and judicial review is warranted only in exceptional cases involving manifest arbitrariness, mala fides or patent illegality.
Finding no material to justify such interference, the Court dismissed the petition and declined to grant any of the reliefs sought.
The ruling reinforces the settled principle that judicial intervention in matters relating to academic evaluation and answer keys is limited, particularly where expert committees have examined the disputed questions and finalised the answer key.
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