New Delhi: The Supreme Court has rejected the plea of a medical aspirant seeking a retest of NEET-UG 2024 on the ground that he was not allowed to carry his handkerchief inside the examination hall due to which he could not utilise the allotted time as he suffered from a medical condition due to which he palms sweat profusely and he needs a cloth to keep them dry.
Medical aspirant moved apex court against Telangana High Court order
The petitioner, represented by his father, moved the apex court against the Telangana High Court order dismissing his plea and sought a direction to the National Testing Agency (NTA) to conduct re-examination of NEET (UG)-2024 for him as was done for 1563 candidates who lost examination time because of delay in distribution of correct question paper to them.
Was not permitted to take handkerchief inside the examination hall due to which I was extremely inconvenienced: Petitioner
The petitioner submitted that he suffers from a medical condition called ‘Hyperhidrosis’ of palms and soles due to which, his palms sweat profusely and therefore he needs a piece of cloth, such as a handkerchief, to wipe off the sweat to keep them dry. The petitioner further said that though he was allowed to appear in the NEET-2024 examination, he was not permitted to take his handkerchief inside the examination hall and as a result, he was extremely inconvenienced and could not gainfully utilize the allotted time for the examination and he could not attempt many questions and even bubbled a wrong digit on the OMR sheet.
The petitioner made a representation before the NTA, which rejected his representation and he challenged the NTA order before the High Court.
Sweat on palms could easily be wiped off on clothes worn by a person, High Court said while dismissing plea
The High Court dismissed his petition upon finding that full allotted time for giving the examination was provided to all the candidates including him at the relevant examination center and therefore, his case is not at par with those 1563 candidates for whom a fresh examination was conducted. The High Court further observed that even if it is assumed that he was wrongly denied permission to carry a handkerchief, it would not have materially affected his performance in the examination as sweat on palms could easily be wiped off on the clothes worn by a person.
View taken by the High Court is a plausible view: Apex court
A bench comprising Chief Justice of India (CJI) DY Chandrachud and Justices JB Pardiwala and Manoj Misra upheld the High Court order and dismissed the plea of the medical aspirant, saying, “In the examination, answers were to be rendered by darkening blank circles on the OMR sheet. In such a case, the use of a pen or a pencil is much less than where answers are to be written. Hence, the view taken by the High Court that denial of permission to take a handkerchief inside the examination hall would not have materially affected petitioner’s performance, as he could have rubbed his palms on his clothes, is a plausible view.”
Petitioner’s case is distinguishable from those 1563 candidates for whom re-examination was conducted: Apex court
The apex court said that there is no case that allotted time for giving the examination was not provided to the petitioner at the examination center and thus, his case is distinguishable from those 1563 candidates for whom re-examination was conducted because of loss of examination time on account of delay in distribution of correct question paper.
“Courts must be circumspect in entertaining an individual grievance relating to a Public Examination as it delays finalization of result thereby seriously prejudicing larger public interest,” the bench said.
