Ms. C Varsha Chowdary vs National Testing Agency & Ors

Jayant Banerji, J

Heard Smt. Lakshmy Iyengar, learned Senior counsel for the petitioner and Sri. H.Shanthi Bhushan, learned DSGI for the respondents.

When the matter was listed on 22.04.2026, the following order was passed:

"The learned counsel appearing for the petitioner is required to produce the logs of the website portal pertaining to the petitioner inasmuch as it is alleged in the writ petition that repeated attempts were made on 11.03.2026 to make payment of the fee, but due to buffering in the portal, no payment could be made.

It is also stated that once the payment of fee was debited from the concerned account, but it was reverted on the next morning.

The learned Counsel appearing for the respondents may also duly file the documents produced today.

On the request of Sri. H. Shanti Bhushan, learned Deputy Solicitor General of India, appearing for the respondents, the matter is adjourned, to be listed again on 23.04.2026."

Pursuant to the previous order of the Court, learned counsel for the respondents has filed a memo enclosing judgments as well as the respondent website log details in respect of the petitioner.

The instant writ petition is filed seeking the following reliefs:

(a) "Issue a Writ of mandamus directing the respondents to accept the examination fee of the petitioner for the ensuing NEET (UG) 2026 examination and permit the petitioner to appear for the NEET (UG) 2026 examination.

(b) Pass any order or directions as this Hon'ble Court deems fit in the circumstances of the case."

It is evident from the public notice dated 08.02.2026 that online submission of application forms for NEET (UG) 2026 were permitted between 08.02.2026 to 08.03.2026 and the last date for successful transaction of fee through online mode was 08.03.2026 up to 11:50 p.m.

By a subsequent public notice dated 08.03.2026, the last date for submission of online application form for the NEET (UG) 2026 was extended upto 11.03.2026 till 09:00 p.m. and the payment of fee could be made upto 11:50 p.m. on 11.03.2026 with the stipulation that no further extension would be granted.

On 22.04.2026, when the matter was taken up, it was argued by learned Senior counsel for the petitioner that repeated attempts were made to login on the web portal of the respondent No.1 unsuccessfully, since the buffering was taking place, which prevented the petitioner from making the payment or uploading the forms. It was also orally stated that the mother of the petitioner was running from pillar to post for obtaining the caste certificate of the petitioner, which caused the delay in uploading the application and documents. Therefore, sympathy of the Court is sought to be invoked for enabling the petitioner to submit her fees.

Today, in the memo filed by the learned Deputy Solicitor General of India DSGI, the login details are filed purportedly showing successful login by the petitioner into the portal of the website of respondent No.1. It reflects that the registration form and the documents were uploaded on 09.02.2026 itself, which is quite contrary to what was being sought to be projected by the learned Senior counsel for the petitioner yesterday that the form and documents could only be uploaded on 11.03.2026. Thereafter, on 11.03.2026 from 19:23 p.m. onwards, repeated successful logins have been made. Thereafter on 12.03.2026, 13.03.2026, 14.03.2026, 15.03.2026 and even thereafter, successful logins were made. Today too, the learned Senior counsel for the petitioner who appears online, states that due to buffering on the payment portal of the respondent No.1, the payment of fee could not be made.

On perusal of the memorandum of writ petition, we find that the oral arguments advanced on 22.04.2026 by the Senior counsel for the petitioner regarding the form and documents being uploaded on 11.03.2026 are not even mentioned in the petition. There is no averment in the petition regarding the date on which the form and documents were uploaded. We do not appreciate this manner of argument by the learned Senior Counsel for the petitioner.

As is evident, from the login details furnished on behalf of the respondents, that the petitioner had uploaded the form and documents on 09.02.2026 itself. For over a month the petitioner did not submit the requisite fee. It was only on the last date that is on 11.03.2026 which was provided by the respondent No.1 for payment of the fee, successful logins were made by the petitioner without making the payment. The stated inability of the petitioner to successfully log in for making payments has not been demonstrated.

In the memo of documents filed on behalf of the petitioner yesterday, certain documents apparently downloaded from the website of the respondent no.1 show completion of submission of registration form. But the application form and fee payment is shown as 'incomplete'. Moreover, on the last page of these online forms, the tab 'Candidates Homepage' the URL on the address bar following address is reflected:

"examinationservices.nic.in/NEETc2026/Registration/frmIndex.aspx".

The webpage shows that the page is loading. Obviously the URL pertains to the registration and not the fee payment portal. The second last page of this memo of documents is as follows:

CALLS MADE TO NTA CALL CENTRE NUMBERS

SL

NO

DATE OF CALLING

TIME OF CALLING

CALLING NUMBER

NEET CUSTOMER CARE NUMBER

REASON FOR CALLING

REMARKS

1

08/03/2026

11 AM TO

3 PM MULTIPLE TIMES

9741620538

011- 40759000

TO KNOW ABOUT EXTENSION SINCE CERTIFICATES FROM GOVT AUTHORITY WAS NOT YET PREPARED

POSITIVE ABOUT DATE EXTENSION

2

11/03/2026

4 PM TO 12 AM MULTIPLE TIMES

9741620538

011- 40759000

ABOUT SOFTWARE PAGE GOING BLANK AND BUFFERING

THEY ASKED ME TO WAIT AND LOGIN IN MULTIPLE SYSTEMS TO UPLOAD DOCUMENTS AND PAY THE FEES WHICH WAS WRONG SUGGESTION

3

FROM 13TH ONWARDS

MULTIPLE TIMES

9741620538

011- 69095235

PERSONALLY ATTENDED OFFICE ABOUT THE ISSUE EXPLAINED TO DR. PROF HC GUPTA WHO IS ONE OF THE DIRECTOR AS PER INFORMATION

INITIALLY PROMISED PAYMENT GATEWAY MIGHT OPEN BUT LATER IN APRIL HE SAID WE ARE BUSY IN JEE AND NO IDEA ABOUT NEET UG 2026

The last page of this memo is a detailed statement of account of ICICI Bank of one Sri Harish.B. At Sl.Nos.34 and 35 of this, against the date 11.03.2026, it is reflected that Rs.1,600/- was withdrawn purportedly towards NEET payment, but it was reversed on the same day.

Learned Senior counsel has relied upon the judgments of the Supreme Court wherein some candidates were granted indulgence. It is evident from perusal of the orders of the Supreme Court that they were permitted given the peculiar facts and circumstances of those cases. However, a three Judge Bench of the Supreme Court in Atul Kumar v. Chairman 2024 SCC Online SC 2684 reflects repeated attempts by the petitioner therein to login which was held to indicate his making earnest efforts to log into the portal. Considering the facts and circumstances, the Supreme Court exercised its power under Article 142 of the Constitution to do substantial justice by directing the college to grant admission to the petitioner.

The learned DSGI on the other hand has referred to Co-ordinate Bench judgments of this Court, bearing Neutral Citation numbers NC:2025:KHC:11338-DB Dinesh Nadurmath v. Union of India and NC:2025: KHC: 18078-DB Mr.Lohith R. v. Union of India. It is noted that in the case of Mr. Lohith. R, the decision of the Supreme Court in Vanshika Yadav vs. Union of India and others 2024 INSC 568 has been referred to in affirmation of the submission of the learned counsel that the portal cannot be opened for one single candidate.

As noted above, it is pertinent to mention here that the petitioner has waited for nearly one month before approaching this Court after the alleged failure by her to make the payment online.

No interference is called for in the facts and circumstances of the present case. Accordingly, the petition is dismissed.