NEET UG row: Delhi High Court refuses plea seeking NTA's abolition

The Delhi High Court on Wednesday refused to entertain a plea seeking the scrapping of the National Testing Agency (NTA) and an investigation into alleged irregularities in the NEET-UG 2026 re-examination.

A Division Bench comprising Chief Justice Devendra Kumar Upadhyaya and Justice Tejas Karia said the petition combined requests for individual relief with broader demands concerning all candidates who appeared for the re-examination. The court allowed the petitioners to withdraw the plea and approach it again with appropriate reliefs.

Court flags mixed prayers in plea

The plea was filed by two NEET aspirants, Rishi Kailash and Fatima Kounser. They had sought directions to scrap the NTA and prevent it from conducting future examinations of national importance. They also sought the appointment of an autonomous institution to conduct such examinations.

The petition, which was transferred from another court and treated as a public interest litigation (PIL), also challenged the NEET-UG 2026 re-examination results, re-evaluation of the petitioners' scorecards and marks awarded for a dropped question.

The Bench, however, said the prayers could not be considered together in the form presented.

"From a perusal of the prayer clause, we find that it is a mixed bunch of prayers made seeking relief in respect of the petitioner and also all candidates who appeared in re-NEET exams. Such a writ petition with the mixture of prayers, in our opinion, cannot be entertained," the Court said.

Petitioners allege discrepancies in re-exam

Kailash, who appeared in the NEET-UG 2026 re-examination, had alleged discrepancies in the examination process, including alleged tampering with OMR sheets.

Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, appearing for the Centre and the NTA, rejected the allegations of malpractice and discrepancies. He also told the court that there had been no tampering with the OMR sheets, contrary to the claims made by the petitioners.

Fresh pleas can be filed

After the Bench indicated that it would not entertain the petition in its existing form, advocate Abhisht Hela sought permission to withdraw it.

Hela said he would file a separate writ petition dealing with the individual grievances and a PIL seeking institutional reforms in the conduct of examinations such as NEET.

The court allowed the request and said the plea would "dismissed as withdrawn".