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

NEET-UG 2021: The Supreme Court on Tuesday, November 23 directed National Testing Agency, the exam conducting body to grant relief to a candidate with disability who was denied an extra hour in NEET-UG exam 2021 at exam centre. The candidate said that she was denied to get an extra hour at the exam centre, to which Bench of Justice DY Chandrachud and Vikram Nath in their verdict said, "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." 

This happened on Tuesday when the bench headed by Justice D. Y. Chandrachud was pronouncing its decision on the plea. The plea of a female NEET-2021 candidate suffering from dysgraphia who claimed that she was refused an additional one hour's time for attempting the paper by the examination centre. She said that either she should be allowed to take the examination again or she should be compensated by way of grace marks or no negative marking or otherwise.

Medical Entrance Test not to be conducted again: SC

To this, Supreme Court has denied agreeing on allowing students to re-write the medical entrance. The top court told National Testing Agency that they will have to find a solution for the injustice meted out to the petitioner, a female aspirant suffering from dysgraphia, a neurological disorder that impairs writing. NTA has been given a deadline of two weeks to come up with a solution. "A lack of remedy by this Court could cause irretrievable injustice to the life of the student. As an examining body, the National Testing Agency cannot get away from responsibility and accountability," the verdict mentioned.

"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.