The Mumbai High Court ordered the National Testing Agency (NTA) and the Central Government to produce original answer sheets. This order concerns three candidates who took the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET) . The court issued the directive on July 1, 2026 . The next hearing is scheduled for July 30, 2026 .
Candidates Allege Answer Sheet Discrepancies
Candidates reported inconsistencies between initially released OMR sheets and final answer keys. Some marks appeared higher on the initial OMR. The Aurangabad Bench issued the order. Justices Nitin Suryawanshi and Abasaheb Shinde presided. The court is seeking the candidates' original response sheets. The directive is returnable on July 7, 2026 .
Case Example: Hricha Deshpande
Petitioner Hricha Deshpande claims her calculated score was 619 marks. This was based on an OMR sheet released earlier. She later received a different OMR from NTA. This new sheet showed answers resulting in 280 marks. Deshpande reported these discrepancies. She stated no action was taken. NTA finalized her score and results on July 16, 2026 , using the contested sheet.
Deshpande’s plea details her experience. She approved an OMR viewed online, finding no errors. On July 15, 2026 , she received an email from NTA. This email contained a different OMR sheet. This sheet showed fewer attempted responses in Physics and Chemistry. Deshpande emailed NTA about the issue the same night. NTA published the final answer key and results the next day.
