The National Testing Agency (NTA) is anticipated to release a revised merit list for the NEET undergraduate examination in compliance with the Supreme Court's orders in two days. This development will likely impact 44 candidates, whose ranks could drop by at least 88 spots.
In addition to the 14 candidates who have achieved 720, there are an additional 70 applicants who have scored 716 out of 720 and these 44 will now be ranked subsequent to them. According to Indian Express this indicates their rank will probably be only after the 88th and maybe even in the hundreds.
A total of forty-four candidates reached the top after receiving grace marks for answering a physics question incorrectly, as per NTA. This implies that the scores for these 44 applicants would now be adjusted to 715 out of 720.
SC's verdict
However, Supreme Court ruled out NTA's decision and said that there would only be one correct answer, and anyone answering with anything other than that would not receive marks for it. NTA had decided to give the 44 candidates five more marks because the incorrect answer they marked was based on an inaccurate reference in their old Class 12 NCERT science textbook. As per media reports, this move is also said to affect over 4 lakh students who will lose 5 marks after SC's decision.
Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan informed reporters on Tuesday that the NTA would announce a new merit list in two days following the Supreme Court's decision.
