Kolkata, 23 July (H.S.): A NEET-UG candidate from Hooghly has approached the Calcutta High Court alleging serious discrepancies in the evaluation of her examination, claiming that her marks were manipulated. The petitioner has sought a fresh verification of her OMR answer sheet.

Justice Amrita Sinha has directed the National Testing Agency (NTA) to file its response at the earliest, observing that medical admission counselling is already underway and the matter requires urgent consideration. The next hearing has been scheduled for Tuesday.

The petition was filed by Shreya Mahanti, a candidate from Dankuni in Hooghly district. She alleged that the answer key corresponding to her examination booklet did not match her OMR sheet. According to the petition, based on the official answer key she should have scored 659–661 marks, but the NTA declared her score as only 289, reflecting a discrepancy of nearly 370 marks.

In court, the petitioner's counsel argued that OMR sheets are evaluated through a computerized process, making such a large difference virtually impossible due to a technical error. He alleged serious irregularities in the evaluation process and sought judicial intervention.

Justice Sinha directed the NTA to explain how such a substantial discrepancy could occur. The court noted that, since the counselling process for medical admissions has already commenced, the agency must submit its response without delay.

The controversy comes amid nationwide protests over the alleged NEET-UG question paper leak. The examination was re-conducted on June 21 after the original May 3 test was cancelled following allegations of paper leakage. Results of the re-examination were declared on July 16. Similar complaints regarding OMR evaluation have surfaced in several states, with multiple petitions pending before different High Courts. The Calcutta High Court has now joined the list of courts examining the issue.

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Hindusthan Samachar / Priyanka Pandey