NEET Aspirant Submitted Forged Documents, NTA Cleared to Take Legal Action: Allahabad HC

GG News Bureau
Prayagraj, 19th June. The Allahabad High Court on Tuesday ruled that a NEET aspirant, Ayushi Patel, had submitted forged documents in her petition alleging that the National Testing Agency (NTA) failed to declare her result and claimed her OMR answersheet was torn. The court confirmed that the NTA can proceed with legal action against Patel.

The court’s decision came after the NTA, under the direction of the high court’s Lucknow bench, presented the original OMR answer sheet of the student, which was found to be intact. This contradicted Patel’s claims that her OMR sheet was torn and led to her result not being declared.

In her petition, Patel asserted that she received communication from the NTA stating her OMR sheet was torn, and she demanded a manual evaluation of her sheet. She also called for an inquiry into the NTA’s handling of the exam and sought to halt the counselling process for admissions. Her allegations gained attention after she posted a video on social media, which was shared by Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi, among others, adding to the ongoing controversy over alleged irregularities in the NEET exam.

On June 12, a vacation bench of Justice Rajesh Singh had ordered the NTA to produce the original records of Patel. Complying with this order, NTA’s Deputy Director Sandeep Sharma presented the original documents, along with an affidavit, to the court.

Upon reviewing the documents, the court determined that Patel’s petition was based on falsified documents. The court expressed regret over the incident and allowed the NTA to take legal action. Subsequently, the advocate for Patel requested permission to withdraw the petition, which the court accepted.

The NTA confirmed to the court that it had already decided to take legal action against Patel. An official statement from the NTA emphasized that no torn OMR answer sheet was ever sent from any official NTA email, and all results were accurately posted online.

Reacting to Patel’s video, an NTA official clarified, “Regarding the viral video featuring Ms. Ayushi Patel, claiming discrepancies in NEET (UG) 2024 scoring and the receipt of a torn OMR answer sheet, NTA clarifies that no torn answer sheet was sent via an official NTA ID. The OMR answer sheet is intact and scores are accurate as per official records.”