NEET Aspirant Expected 580 Marks but Received 165; High Court Declines Relief
A Gujarat NEET-UG aspirant who expected about 580 marks received 165 in the National Testing Agency’s (NTA) result. The Gujarat High Court declined to interfere after the original OMR answer sheet was produced and inspected during the case.
The candidate, Shreya Chaudhari of Patan, challenged the score awarded in the 2026 medical entrance re-examination. She said the responses shown in the scanned OMR image were not the answers she remembered marking and argued that a scanning or evaluation problem could explain the large gap between her expected marks and the result. Her expectation was based on her recollection and coaching mock-test performance.
The NTA stood by the declared score. Its records showed 63 correct answers, 87 incorrect answers and 30 unanswered questions. Under the reported marking scheme of four marks for a correct response and a one-mark deduction for an incorrect response, that produced a score of 165.
Why the High Court refused to change the score
On August 13, the Gujarat High Court directed the NTA to produce the original OMR sheet in a sealed cover. On August 24, an NTA official brought the sheet to court, where it was opened and shown to Chaudhari and her advocate. The court also placed a scanned copy of the original on record.
The court found that the candidate had not established a material discrepancy between the original OMR sheet and the scanned image. It said that her expectation of about 580 marks and mock-test scores were not enough to displace the examination record. The judge also noted that the candidate did not dispute the signature on the OMR sheet. The petition was dismissed without costs.
The decision concerned the evidence presented in this individual case. It does not mean that every examination-score complaint will receive the same outcome: the court’s review focused on the original sheet and whether the candidate could show a material mismatch in the record.
NEET 2026 score dispute timeline
- May 3, 2026: The original NEET-UG examination was held and later cancelled after a question-paper leak.
- June 21, 2026: NTA conducted the re-examination.
- July 13, 2026: NTA uploaded the candidate’s scanned OMR image.
- July 16, 2026: The re-examination result was declared, showing a score of 165.
- August 13–24, 2026: The High Court ordered the original OMR sheet to be produced; it was later inspected in court.
- October 8, 2026: The court’s order was made available, finding no ground to interfere with the score.
What the case means for NEET aspirants
The ruling underscores the importance of checking official answer-key and OMR records within the applicable objection window. Candidates who believe their score is wrong should keep relevant documents, follow the testing agency’s published process and distinguish a personal score estimate from evidence of an error in the recorded responses.
