A writ petition has been filed in the Supreme Court contesting the National Testing Agency's (NTA) decision to provide grace marks to candidates who took this year's National Entrance cum Eligibility Test (NEET) for admission to undergraduate medical programs.
The National Testing Agency's decision to award compensatory marks to 1563 students on the grounds of "loss of time" was challenged in a Writ Petition filed under Article 32 of the Constitution by the petitioner, Mr. Jaripate Karthik, an applicant for the NEET from the state of Andhra Pradesh. The petitioner's attorneys, Mr. Y. Balaji and Mr. Chirag Sharma, have requested an early listing of the case from the Supreme Court registry.
The petitioner contends that it is illegal, arbitrary, and against Articles 14 and 21 of the Indian Constitution to improperly apply the "normalization formula" to award grace marks.The argument raises concerns about the validity and equity of giving applicants grace marks. The petitioners contend that this kind of action might skew the results and have an impact on the admissions procedure, which would undermine the exam's meritocratic structure. They argue that grace marks might unjustly favor some applicants over others, distorting the results and possibly giving rise to complaints from the student community.
There are differing expert viewpoints on this issue. Certain experts think that the granting of grace marks is an essential step in resolving disparities and ensuring fairness for all applicants. Some argue that these kinds of actions could jeopardize the competitive examination's meritocratic structure. The rulings made by the Delhi High Court in this case are expected to have significant ramifications and could change India's standardized testing regulations as they move forward."
