Bombay High Court issues notice in plea by NEET aspirant seeking manual OMR sheet evaluation after scoring 0 out of 720 marks

The Bombay High Court today issued notice in a petition filed by a National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET) aspirant seeking directions for manual evaluation of her OMR sheet after scoring zero in the exam. .Justices AS Chandurkar and NB Suryawanshi of the Nagpur Bench of the High Court issued notice to the National Testing Agency, and Union Ministries of Health and Human Resource Development..The student, through Advocate Ashwin Deshpande, has urged the Court to direct the authorities to produce her NEET OMR sheet and to get it manually evaluated. Her contention stems from an apprehension that the faulty online testing mechanism of the OMR sheet has led to her scoring 0 marks out of 720..Referring to the Supreme Court's judgment in Ran Vijay Singh & ors v. State of Uttar Pradesh & ors, the High Court noted that it was "conscious of the law in this regard", and hence a reply was sought from the respondents.."We are conscious of the scope available for interference in matters of the present nature. The law in this regard can be referred to as laid down in Ran Vijay Singh and others Vs. State of Uttar Pradesh and others (2018) 2 SCC 357 and especially paragraph 30 thereof. Prima facie, considering the fact that the petitioner has been awarded zero marks a response from the respondents is called for."Bombay High Court.The plea states that the petitioner has an excellent academic record, having scored 93.4% in the SSC Examination and 81.85% in the HSC examination..Prior to the results of NEET, NTA uploaded the OMR sheet submitted by the candidates so that they are given an opportunity to make a representation on gradation of their OMR sheets. They were also given an opportunity to challenge the answer key in case of any doubt.This option was given as there is no re-checking or revaluation system for the NEET exams. .The petitoner contends that her OMR sheet was not uploaded. Even though she sent a representation to NTA, she did not receive a reply from them. The plea states,."It is most respectfully submitted that the petitioner was expecting around 650 plus marks out of 720 which means that she will be eligible for getting admission for MBBS Course in any of the Government Medical College in the State of Maharashtra."Petition filed in Bombay High Court.The plea apprehends that the petitioner’s OMR sheet might "not have been scanned properly or there might be some problem in the system or it cannot be ruled out that her OMR Sheet got exchanged with some other candidate.".The petitioner has thus urged the Court to direct the respondents to refrain from proceeding with the admission process till a decision is rendered in the instant petition..Notice has been issued for final disposal of the matter returnable on October 26. .[Read order]