Ensure That CUET Answer Key Is Uploaded Before Final Result Declaration: Delhi HC Directs National Testing Agency

The Delhi High Court has directed the National Testing Agency (NTA) to ensure that the CUET i.e., Central University Entrance Test answer key is uploaded prior to the declaration of the final result.

The Court was dealing with a writ petition filed by a person who appeared for his Class XII examination under the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) in 2021-22 and then appeared in CUET (UG) 2022.

A Single Bench of Justice C. Hari Shankar ordered, “The Court has also been assured that the final answer key would be uploaded on the website of the NTA at least a day prior to the final declaration of result, though it would be accessible only through the individual login ID and password of the candidate concerned. … The Court is satisfied with the explanation. The NTA is directed to ensure that these assurances are scrupulously adhered to, in future.”

Advocate Nidhi Gupta represented the petitioner while ASG Chetan Sharma represented the respondents.

Brief Facts -

In 2022, the Department of Higher Education (DOHE), Ministry of Education, Union of India, as part of the New Education Policy (NEP), decided to centralize undergraduate admissions to all Central Universities after Class XII through CUET (UG). The first such test was the CUET (UG)- 2022, for which applications were invited and issued by the NTA which was to conduct the CUET. The petitioner person applied for and appeared in the CUET (UG) 2022 examination in August 2022 and the provisional answer keys for the 2022 CUET were released by the NTA in September 2022. The NTA issued a Public Notice, allowing candidates who had appeared in the CUET to challenge the provisional answer key by paying a nominal fee therefor.

It was stated that if the challenge raised by any candidate was found to be correct, the provisional answer key would be corrected and final answer key would be issued accordingly and that the final result would be based on the final answer key. The petitioner submitted objections against the answer proposed in the provisional answer key in respect of 11 questions within the time stipulated in that regard. Thereafter, a second Public Notice was issued by the NTA, stating that the challenges to the provisional answer key were placed before the concerned subject experts and that the answer keys had been finalized. Aggrieved by the fact that the NTA had proceeded to release the final results without making the final answer key known to the candidates, the petitioner moved the High Court and sought direction to the NTA to publish the final answer keys of the 2022 CUET.

The High Court in the above context noted, “… the Court has been assured that in future, this would not happen and that any exercise of consideration of objections to the provisional answer key would be undertaken only prior to the final result of the examination of the CUET.”

Accordingly, the High Court disposed of the petition.

Cause Title- Aashish Gupta v. Union of India & Anr. (Neutral Citation: 2024:DHC:445)

Appearance:

Petitioner: Advocate Nidhi Gupta

Respondents: Standing Counsel Sanjay Khanna, Standing Counsel Apoorv Kurup, Advocates Pragya Bhushan, Karandeep Singh, Tarandeep Singh, Amit Singh, Vikramaditya Singh, Saurabh Tripathi, Navya Goel and Muskaan Gupta.

Click here to read/download the Judgment