KOCHI: The Kerala High Court has upheld the findings of an expert committee that there was no material to conclude that any manipulations were made in the Optical Mark Recognition (OMR) sheet of a student who attended the NEET 2021 exam. Justice N Nagaresh also dismissed the petition filed by Rithu Sibi of Thrissur seeking a comprehensive investigation into the manipulation of OMR sheets.
The petitioner alleged that her father's and mother's names mentioned in the OMR sheet were not put up by her. The writings in the OMR sheet are not that of the petitioner. The roll number of the petitioner in the numerical does not tally with the bubbled portion, stated the petition.
The National Testing Agency (NTA), the autonomous organisation that conducts entrance examinations for admission to higher educational institutions, had formed a committee to conduct an investigation into the allegation. The committee found that there was no material to conclude that any manipulations were made in the OMR sheet of the petitioner.
The OMR sheet contains a declaration made by the petitioner that the entries therein are made by the petitioner. No other complaints were received from other students who appeared for the examination from the same room. The committee found that manipulations in the OMR sheet are extremely unlikely. The signatures of the invigilators in the OMR sheet match with the signatures in the attendance sheet.
"In view of the comprehensive report submitted by the committee, this court find no reason to disbelieve its conclusions," observed the Bench.