Madras High Court stays NEET-UG result as Chennai students point to power cut in exam centre

The Madras High Court granted an interim stay restraining authorities from releasing NEET-UG-2025 results after the bench heard the plea of several students who were affected due to a power cut at an examination centre in Chennai, reported PTI.

Hearing the plea, Justice V Lakshminarayanan granted an interim stay on Friday and adjourned the matter to 2 June for further hearing.

In the submission, the students submitted that due to a storm and heavy rainfall, there had been a power outage at PM Shri Kendriya Vidyalaya CRPF-Avadi, Chennai, which was their examination centre, from approximately 3.00 PM to 4.15 PM on the date of the exam, 4 May 2025.

The 13 students who submitted the affidavit also argued that there were no backup facilities, such as generators or inverters.

"We were forced to write the examination under poor lighting conditions, and rainwater entered the examination hall, causing further disruption as we were asked to move from the assigned seats," they submitted.

They added that the examination authorities did not provide any extra time to the affected students despite the disruption, so the petitioners were not able to complete the examination fully.

What did the students contend in the petition?

In the petition, the students contended that they were subjected to grossly unequal examination conditions compared to candidates at other centres, violating Article 14 of the Constitution. They also claimed rights under Article 21 (Protection of life and liberty) had been infringed.

“A national-level competitive exam like NEET must ensure a level playing field, which was denied to the petitioners.”

The report added that the respondent authorities have not acknowledged or addressed the petitioners' genuine grievances despite timely representation on May 4 itself. The respondents include the union government, National Medical Commission and the National Testing Agency that conducts NEET.

With agency inputs.