Supreme Court directs relief for NEET candidate with disability who was denied one extra hour

The Supreme Court today called upon the authorities including National Testing Agency to grant relief to a disabled student who was denied one extra hour to write the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET) as mandated under the Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act, 2016 (Avni Prakash v. National Testing Agency & Ors).

The Court, however, refused to allow the student to re-write the exam.

The Bench of Justice DY Chandrachud and Vikram Nath held,

"The exam body was bound to follow the rules which allow for relaxation for persons with disability. Lack of remedy will cause irreparable injury. Authority cannot be allowed to get away."

To this end, the National Testing Agency (NTA) was directed to see what remedy can be be made available to remedy the injustice meted out to the petitioner, who suffered from Dysgraphia, a neurological disorder that impairs writing.

"Having regard to Vikash Kumar judgment, facilities to persons with disabilities will not be limited in comparison to benchmark disability. Second respondent was unaware of facilities for the petitioner. Thus they should be sensitised," the Court stated.

The Court thus gave the exam authority two weeks to communicate a decision on relief to the petitioner.

[Read Judgment]