Supreme Court Refuses to Reopen NEET-UG 2026 Answer Key, Dismisses Plea Challenging Six Questions

July 28, 2026 : The Supreme Court has dismissed a petition challenging the correctness of the official answers to six questions in the NEET-UG 2026 examination, refusing to direct a fresh evaluation of answer sheets or order another re-examination.

A Bench comprising Justice P.S. Narasimha and Justice Alok Aradhe declined to interfere with the final answer key issued by the National Testing Agency (NTA) after the NEET-UG 2026 re-test conducted on June 21.

The petition, filed by a candidate from Kerala, alleged that the NTA had adopted incorrect answers for six questions, leading to an inaccurate evaluation of candidates. The petitioner sought correction of the disputed answers, revision of the examination results and merit list, and appropriate relief for all affected candidates.

Rejecting the plea, the Supreme Court reiterated that courts do not ordinarily sit in appeal over the opinions of expert academic bodies. The Bench observed that determining the correctness of answers in a competitive examination is a matter for subject experts and that judicial review is permissible only in exceptional circumstances involving manifest arbitrariness, mala fide action, or patent illegality.

Finding no evidence of such exceptional circumstances, the Court refused to interfere with the final answer key and dismissed the petition.

The judgment reaffirms the settled legal position that courts exercise limited judicial review in matters relating to academic evaluation and examination answer keys, particularly when expert committees have already examined the disputed questions and finalized the official answer key.