NEET UG 2026: Supreme Court Grants Urgent Hearing on OMR Sheet Discrepancy Petition
Supreme Court NEET UG 2026: The Supreme Court of India has agreed to grant an urgent hearing to a petition alleging critical discrepancies and tampering in the NEET UG 2026 optical mark recognition (OMR) answer sheets. A bench led by the Chief Justice of India acknowledged the urgency highlighted by petitioners ahead of the National Testing Agency's (NTA) upcoming response submission deadline. The petitioners claim variations between candidates' calculated scores and official uploaded OMR images, seeking a independent forensic audit and stay on ongoing counselling allotments.
Supreme Court NEET UG 2026: The Supreme Court has decided to hear urgently the plea which seeks to set aside the objectionable OMR sheet in the National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test Undergraduate (NEET UG) 2026 Examination following the submissions made by the counsel of the petitioner with regard to the impending destruction of original examination documents by the National Testing Agency (NTA).
According to LiveLaw, the matter will be heard by a bench headed by Justice PS Narasimha on October 15. This is after the plea came up for mention before the Chief Justice of India Surya Kant and Justice Joymalya Bagchi on October 14, where counsel for the petitioner had requested for urgent hearing with regard to the pending deadline.
The counsel had argued that NTA was expected to destroy the original examination documents after the stipulated 90 days. With the deadline being imminent, the counsel wanted the Supreme Court to intervene so that the examination documents are not destroyed.
Supreme Court Hearing: Key Highlights
Below are the key highlights related to the Supreme Court Hearing:
| Parameter | Official Details |
| Judicial Authority | Supreme Court of India |
| Matter Under Consideration | Urgent petition regarding NEET UG OMR sheet discrepancies & score variations |
| Respondent Body | National Testing Agency (NTA) & Union Ministry of Education |
| Primary Relief Sought | Independent forensic evaluation of OMR sheets, re-evaluation, and stay on seat allotment |
| Current Status | Listed for urgent hearing prior to NTA submission cutoff |
Supreme Court NEET UG 2026: Key Petitioner Allegations & Legal Grounds
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OMR Upload Discrepancies: There was a reported huge difference between the physical response sheet answers given in the test hall and the uploaded images displayed on the NTA candidates' portal.
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Score Calculation Flaws: There was noted severe discrepancies where the candidate's responses did not correlate with the answer key, causing an unexpected change in rank.
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Request for External Verification: The plea calls for the establishment of a committee by the Court to independently verify the validity of the original hard copies of the OMR sheets kept by NTA.
Siddhi Sharma is an education journalist at Jagran Josh. A Journalism and Mass Communication graduate from IP University, she brings sharp newsroom instincts developed during her previous stint at Zee News. At Jagran Josh, Siddhi specializes in decoding the educational updates. Her coverage is highly exam-centric, ranging from curated news blogs for competitive exams to crucial school board and university news. Combining her strong media foundations with a research-driven approach, she creates reliable, high-utility content that helps students and aspirants stay ahead of the curve. Her writing is factual, engaging, and tailored to meet the fast-paced needs of modern learners and exam aspirants.
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