NEET UG 2026 Result Row: Bombay HC Orders NTA to Produce Original OMR Answer Sheets Amid Result Discrepancies
NEET UG 2026 exam has come under scrutiny after the BHC directed NTA to produce the original answer sheets of three candidates who alleged discrepancies in their NEET UG 2026 results. The petitioners claimed their final scores were significantly lower than those calculated. The matter will next be heard on July 30, 2026.
NEET UG 2026 Result Row: The Bombay High Court has issued a notice to the Central Government and the National Testing Agency (NTA) following the petitions filed by three NEET UG 2026 candidates. They have raised alleged discrepancies in their NEET UG 2026 results declared on July 16. Hearing the matter at the Aurangabad Bench, the court directed NTA to provide the original answer sheets (OMR sheets) of the petitioners on July 30, 2026. The petitions were filed after the candidates claimed that their final scores were lower than the marks they calculated using the OMR sheets and the official NEET UG answer key.
Bombay High Court Issues Notice to NTA
A Division Bench of Justice Nitin Suryawanshi and Justice Abasaheb Shinde issued notices on the petitions filed by Hricha Deshpande, Soham Gavate and Atharva Jagtap. The court directed NTA to produce the petitioners' original answer sheets during the next hearing and listed the matter in the urgent category.
Candidates Allege Discrepancies in NEET UG 2026 Results
Commonly asked questions
NEET counselling seat matrix refers to the number of seats offered across the participating institutes for each course. The seat matrix is released by the Medical Counselling Committee (MCC) before the commencement of the counselling process. The seat matrix is released in institute-wise categories for the types of institutes, such as Deemed universities, AIIMS & JIPMER, etc. For NEET 2025 counselling, the primary seat matrix released by MCC for Round 1 was of for Deemed University, Central University, BSc Nursing and AIQ seats. After that, for the second and third rounds, MCC releases the list of newly added seats along with the clear vacancy and virtual vacancy.
The MCC conducts around 4 to 5 rounds for NEET UG Counselling process for MBBS, BDS, BHMS and other seats. The rounds of NEET counselling depends on seat matrix and number of vacant seats.
The NEET counselling registration fee varies for different candidate categories. For the AIQ seats and Central Universities, the fee for the General category candidates is INR 1,000 and for the SC, ST, OBC and PwD category candidates, the fee is INR 500. For participating in the NEET counselling process for Deemed Universities, the registration fee for all category candidates is INR 5,000. The registration fee is non-refundable. On the other hand, candidates will have to pay the tuition fee which is refundable. The amount for the General category candidates for the AIQ seats and Central Universities is INR 10,000. For the reserved category candidates, the amount is INR 5,000. For Deemed Universities, the tuition fee to be paid by all category candidates is INR 2,00,000. Those who would not be allotted a seat after the NEET counselling process will be refunded the tuition fee after the conclusion of the counselling rounds.
According to the petitions, they found differences between the responses displayed on the NTA portal and the marks reflected in the final result. Petitioner Hricha Deshpande stated that after accessing her OMR sheet on July 15, she calculated a score of around 619 marks using the NTA NEET 2026 official answer key. However, she later received another OMR sheet via email from NTA, which showed different responses and an expected score of only 280 marks.
She further claimed that the OMR sheet initially displayed on the official portal matched the responses she had recorded in her question booklet after the examination.
NEET UG 2026 Latest News and Updates
As per the reports, MCC will soon release the NEET UG 2026 counselling process. Students will be able to get the round-wise counselling dates at mcc.nic.in.
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Mayank Uniyal is an MCom graduate in International Business. He has over 7 years of experience in content writing. He has been working in the education domain since the beginning of his career. He covers news and up
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