CBSE may challenge Neet order

◗ The CBSE conducted NEET on May 6 in 136 cities in 11 languages, the results of which were announced on June 4

New Delhi, July 12: The Central Board of Secondary Education ( CBSE) is contemplating to move the Supreme Court against an order by the Madras high court granting grace marks to those who wrote this year’s Neet exam in Tamil, sources in the HRD ministry said on Thursday.

The Madurai bench of the Madras high court had on July 10 ordered the CBSE to grant 196 marks 1 4 marks each for 49 erroneous questions — in the Tamil version of the National Entrance-cum-Eligibility Test ( NEET).

The petitioner, senior CPI( M) leader and Rajya Sabha Member of Parliament T. K. Rangarajan, had sought full marks for the 49 questions, saying key words in Tamil questions were wrongly translated from English which caused confusion among students.

There were 180 questions carrying 720 marks in total in the NEET.

“CBSE is contemplating to move the higher court, but a final call will be taken after holding consultations with various stakeholders and seeking legal opinion,” a source in the ministry said. Another source said senior officials from both CBSE and the ministry were holding consultations in the matter.

However, a senior health ministry official said they have not been approached by the CBSE and that the “body is free to decide on the future course of action”.

The information bulletin of Neet exam had said that “candidates opting for regional languages would be provided bilingual test booklets in selected regional languages and in English. In case of any ambiguity in translation of any of the questions, its English version shall be treated as final”.

Sources said the CBSE could highlight this aspect while challenging the high court order.

The Neet exam is conducted for admissions to MBBS/ BDS courses in colleges run with the approval of Medical Council of India/ Dental Council of India under the Health Ministry. The CBSE conducted the NEET on May 6 in 136 cities in 11 languages, the results of which were announced on June 4.