Madhya Pradesh High Court Halts Result For Affected NEET Centres | Power Outage Allegations Spark Pleas For Re-Exam And Fair Evaluation
Sanchayita Lahkar
The High Court of Madhya Pradesh Single Bench of Justice Pavan Kumar Dwivedi held that the National Testing Agency (NTA) is permitted to declare the results of the NEET-UG 2025 examination held on 4 May 2025, for all candidates except those who have filed writ petitions challenging alleged examination disruptions in Indore. The court modified its previous interim order and directed that results be withheld only for the petitioners until further notice. This decision follows multiple petitions filed by candidates citing power outages during the exam period, which, they claimed, hindered their performance.
While the initial interim relief had stayed the declaration of results for all candidates in Indore, the court’s updated direction aims to balance administrative continuity with individualized grievance redressal. It directed all parties to complete pleadings within a week and submit written submissions in preparation for final hearing. The matter is listed for final hearing on 23 June 2025. The revised interim order recognizes the complexity and scale of the examination process while limiting relief to those actively pursuing legal remedy.
The petitions under consideration concern the conduct of the NEET-UG 2025 examination held on 4 May 2025, between 2:00 pm and 5:00 pm. Candidates alleged disruptions due to a power outage ranging from 1 to 2 hours at select centres in Indore. The petitioners contended that this disruption compromised the fairness of the exam and adversely affected their performance.
The court analogously heard a total of 79 writ petitions, consolidating them due to the commonality of the questions involved. For clarity, the facts from Writ Petition No. 17344/2025 were taken as representative.
The petitioners submitted that despite a red alert issued by the Meteorological Department on 3 May 2025—predicting severe thunderstorms, squally/gusty winds, and rainfall—the respondents failed to provide proper backup arrangements. This alleged failure resulted in examinees having to write the paper in poor lighting conditions. They asserted that the stress caused by the situation significantly affected their ability to complete the exam effectively.
On 15 May 2025, the High Court initially granted interim relief to the petitioners stating: "Considering the fact that the respondent(s) have failed to provide proper conditions to the petitioner, who was appearing in NEET-UG examination, which was held on 04.05.2025, and was prevented due to power failure in the various parts of the city, it is directed that till the next date of hearing, the result of NEET-UG shall not be declared by the respondents."
Subsequently, on 16 May 2025, upon submissions made by the Solicitor General, the court modified its earlier interim relief to allow result declaration for unaffected centres, stating: "On due consideration this Court finds force in the submissions as advanced by Shri Mehta, learned Solicitor General, and is inclined to modify the order passed by this Court on 15.05.2025, to the extent that the respondents may be allowed to declare the results for all the other centres in India, except the affected centres at Indore, in which the power failure was faced by the students, and the details of which shall be furnished by the respondents along with their reply."
Respondent No.1 filed its counter affidavit on 19 May 2025, stating in Paragraph 16 that NEET (UG) 2025 had 49 centres in Indore with 27,264 registered candidates, of whom 5,766 were at the affected 11 centres. Only 18 candidates from those centres reported significant disruptions. It was argued that the small number of complaints relative to total examinees diminished the impact of the alleged mismanagement.
In her rejoinder, the petitioner contended that over 50 students had filed writ petitions and that many more submitted complaints via email and a Google Form. The petitioner stressed that many affected candidates lacked the resources to initiate legal proceedings, asserting that the true extent of disruption was broader than portrayed.
The petitioner added that she was a high-performing candidate with aspirations for a top rank and that the disruptions denied her a fair chance, thereby infringing her fundamental rights.
On 26 May 2025, Respondent No.1 submitted an additional affidavit asserting that field reports from centre supervisors, observers, and the District Collector indicated no impediment to proper exam completion. However, as a precaution, a statistical analysis of the response patterns from affected and unaffected centres in Indore was conducted. The findings, according to Respondent No.1, showed no major deviation between the two groups.
Some intervention applications were filed by candidates who claimed that the examination was conducted smoothly and opposed the petitioners’ demand for relief. The court, considering the complex facts and divergent claims, instructed all parties to complete pleadings within a week and to place their written submissions on record for the final hearing.
The court stated: "Since common question is involved in all these cases, therefore, they are being heard analogously and this common order is being passed." It acknowledged that the factual matrix of Writ Petition No.17344/2025 would be treated as representative for all connected cases.
In reference to the initial claim, the bench recorded: "Petitioner has filed this petition being aggrieved by the purported mismanagement and lack of power backup for around 1 to 2 hours while organizing the NEET-UG exam at some of the centres situate in Indore."
Further noting the petitioners’ claims, the court quoted: "...students at the centers were forced to write their exam in the dark/poor light which has resulted in extreme stress and due to which petitioners could not solve their paper properly."
The court’s interim order dated 15 May 2025 was recorded in full, followed by its revision on 16 May 2025, which allowed declaration of results at unaffected centres.
Summarizing the affidavit filed by Respondent No.1, the bench recorded: "...only 18 candidates, out of 5603 candidates who have appeared from the Examination Centre in question, have alleged significant disruption in the examination and loss of time due to power outage."
Regarding the petitioner’s response, the court noted: "the ask of justice should not be based upon the number of grievances received that too in form of WP... thus the number of WP registered cannot be the basis to negate the correct grievance."
Additionally, it cited the petitioner’s argument: "the total number of the Grievance registered with the National Testing Agency, Ministry of Health and Family Welfare and the Ministry of Education received through emails, phone calls and letters have not been disclosed..."
The respondent’s additional affidavit was documented: "Committee has carried out a detailed statistical analysis and according to respondent No.1 findings of committee suggest that there was no major deviation amongst the centres which are purportedly affected from the weather and unaffected centres."
The court also acknowledged the opposing intervention applications, stating: "In some of the cases intervention applications have also been filed by the persons who have come with the case that there was no obstruction in smooth completion of examination and they opposed the prayer of the petitioner."
The court issued specific instructions to conclude the preliminary hearing stage:
"Looking to the nature of controversy involved in the matter all the parties are directed to complete their pleadings within a period of one week from today. The respondents either file their reply in each case or adopt the same by placing copy of the reply filed by them in writ petition No.17344/2025 as may be the case. All the parties are directed to prepare written submissions and place the same on record."
The revised interim relief order was quoted as follows:
"Respondent No.1 is free to declare the result of all the candidates who have appeared in NEET-UG exam held on 04-05-2025 except the candidates who have filed writ petitions before this Court till further orders."
The court listed the matter for admission and final hearing: "List this case for admission/final hearing at motion stage on 23-06-2025 along with all other connected cases stated above."
It was also directed: "Copy of this order be kept in all the connected writ petitions."
Advocates Representing the Parties:
For the Petitioners: Shri Mradul Bhatnagar, Shri Nitin Singh Bhati and Shri Chinmay Mehta – Advocates
For the Respondents: Shri Tushar Mehta – Solicitor General of India, Shri Himanshu Joshi – Dy. Solicitor General, Shri Rupesh Kumar and Shri Romesh Dave – Senior Advocates
Case Title: Laxmi Devi vs. National Testing Agency & Ors
Case Number: WP No.17344/2025 and connected matters
Bench: Justice Pavan Kumar Dwivedi
[Read/Download order]
