In a recent development, the Supreme Court of India has dismissed a plea filed by a NEET-UG 2025 candidate challenging the final answer key and result published by the National Testing Agency (NTA).
The candidate, Shivam Gandhi Raina, had alleged a key error in Question No. 136 (Code 47) of the exam and claimed it affected his rank and marks.
Raina, who secured an All India Rank of 6783 and General Category Rank of 3195, stated that had the answer been corrected according to the NCERT Class XI Biology textbook, he would have gained 5 extra marks. This, he claimed, would significantly improve his ranking in the competitive exam.
The disputed question asked:
Cardiac activities of the heart are regulated by:
A. Nodal Tissue
B. A special neural centre in the medulla oblongata
C. Adrenal medullary hormones
D. Adrenal cortical hormonesOptions:
A, B and D only
A, B and C only
A, B, C and D
A, C and D only
The petitioner contended that Option 3 (A, B, C, and D) was the correct choice based on NCERT sources, but the NTA allegedly did not consider the objection during answer key evaluation.
Filed through Advocate-on-Record Sriram Parakkat, the petition also sought a stay on the counselling process as interim relief. However, a vacation bench of Justices PS Narasimha and R Mahadevan heard the matter on July 4 and rejected the plea, thereby upholding the NTA’s final result and answer key.
The verdict reaffirms the court’s consistent approach of limited intervention in expert body decisions unless a manifest error or injustice is clearly evident.
