Supreme Court junks Plea for NEET Re-Exam by Candidate Suffering from Hyperhidrosis

New Delhi: The Apex Court bench recently dismissed a plea seeking NEET re-exam filed by a candidate having a medical condition called 'Hyperhidrosis' of palm and soles.

While dismissing the plea, the Apex Court bench comprising CJI DY Chandrachud, Justices JB Pardiwala and Manoj Misra also emphasized caution in entertaining individual grievances about public examinations as it delays the finalization of results which affects the larger public interest.

The petitioner had filed the plea before the Supreme Court against the Telangana High Court order dated August 9, 2024, where the plea seeking direction to the authorities to conduct a re-examination of NEET UG 2024 for him was dismissed.

It was the case of the petitioner that he suffers from a medical condition called 'Hyperhidrosis' of palms and soles. Due to this, his palms sweat profusely. Therefore, to keep them dry, he needed a piece of cloth, such as a handkerchief, to wipe off the seat. 

As per the petitioner, even though he was allowed to appear in the NEET-2024 examination, he was not permitted to take his handkerchief inside the examination hall. As a result, he was extremely inconvenienced and could not gainfully utilize the allotted time for the examination. It is also his case that because of that he could not attempt many questions and even bubbled a wrong digit on the OMR sheet.

Therefore, the petitioner prayed that a fresh examination be conducted for him as was done for 1563 candidates who lost examination time because of delay in the distribution of correct question papers to them.

In this regard, the petitioner had submitted a representation which was rejected by an order dated 21.06.2024. Therefore, he filed a plea before the High Court. However, the plea was dismissed by the HC bench after finding that the full allotted time for giving the examination was provided to all the candidates including the petitioner at the relevant examination centre.

Therefore, the HC held that the petitioner's case was not at par with those 1563 candidates for whom a fresh examination was conducted. The HC bench observed that even if it is assumed that the petitioner was wrongly denied permission to carry a handkerchief, the same would not have materially affected his performance in the examination as sweat on palms could easily be wiped off on the clothes worn by a person.

While considering the matter, the Supreme Court bench noted that the thrust of the submissions was on the negligence of the security personnel manning the examination center in not allowing the petitioner to carry a handkerchief inside the examination hall even though it was not a prohibited item. The court noted that the argument was that had the petitioner been provided the benefit of a handkerchief, his performance have been a lot better thereby improving his chances for admission in a college of his choice.

However, the Apex Court bench that the matter was not a fit case for its interference for the following reasons:

"(a) There is no case that allotted time for giving the examination was not provided to the petitioner at the examination center. Thus, the case of the petitioner is distinguishable from those 1563 candidates for whom re-examination was conducted because of loss of examination time on account of delay in distribution of correct question paper.

(b) In the examination, answers were to be rendered by darkening blank circles on the OMR sheet. In such a case, the use of a pen or a pencil is much less than where answers are to be written. Hence, the view taken by the High Court that denial of permission to take a handkerchief inside the examination hall would not have materially affected petitioner’s performance, as he could have rubbed his palms on his clothes, is a plausible view.

(c) Courts must be circumspect in entertaining an individual grievance relating to a Public Examination as it delays finalization of result thereby seriously prejudicing larger public interest."

For these reasons, the Supreme Court bench dismissed the special leave petition filed by the medical aspirant.

To view the order, click on the link below:

https://medicaldialogues.in/pdf_upload/supreme-court-neet-re-exam-253365.pdf

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