The Supreme Court has cautioned the National Testing Agency (NTA) to avoid inconsistent decisions, citing the recent flip-flops in the NEET-UG case. The court’s remarks came during a hearing on a plea challenging the NTA’s decision to allow candidates to edit their NEET-UG application forms.
After the oral pronunciations, DY Chandrachud ( The Chief Justice) said, ” We have said that the NTA must now avoid the flip flops which it has made in this case. These flip-flops in the NTA does not serve the interest of the students.”
The Supreme Court emphasized the importance of consistency in exam policies, warning the NTA against making sudden changes that may affect candidates’ preparations and chances.
The court referred to the recent controversy surrounding the NEET-UG exam, where the NTA made last-minute changes to the exam pattern, causing confusion among candidates.
The court asserted that candidates have the right to know the exam pattern and rules in advance, and any changes should be made with adequate notice.
The NTA assured the court that it would avoid making any sudden changes in the future and would provide sufficient notice to candidates in case of any modifications.
Chief Justice Chandrachud highlighted the NTA’s initial decision to grant grace marks to students who opted for a secondary answer choice for a question with ambiguous wording. However, an expert panel convened by IIT-Delhi subsequently determined that the question had only one correct solution. Consequently, the Court instructed the NTA to revise the results accordingly. Notably, the NTA’s initial decision to accept two answers as correct resulted in 44 students achieving perfect scores of 720 marks, as observed by the Chief Justice.”
The Supreme Court’s warning to the NTA serves as a reminder of the importance of transparency and consistency in exam policies, ensuring fairness and equal opportunities for all candidates.
