The Delhi High Court has issued notice to the National Testing Agency (NTA) and the Central Government on a petition challenging the decision to re-conduct the UGC-NET June 2026 English examination. The matter came before Justice Jasmeet Singh, who sought responses from the authorities and scheduled the next hearing for October 6, 2026.
The petition was filed by UGC-NET candidate Parul Sheoran, who appeared for the English paper in the June 2026 examination. The petitioner has challenged the NTA's August 16 notification directing a re-conduct of the English examination, arguing that the decision was arbitrary, procedurally unfair, and violative of Article 14 of the Constitution.
According to the plea, the NTA failed to disclose the material and reasoning that formed the basis of its decision to order a fresh examination. The petitioner contends that the decision was taken without adhering to the procedure prescribed under the UGC-NET June 2026 Information Bulletin.
The petition seeks quashing of the NTA's notification and a direction to process and declare the results of the examination already conducted. Alternatively, if the re-test proceeds, the petitioner has sought a refund of examination fees without prejudice to the right of candidates to appear in the fresh examination.
The controversy arose after the NTA received multiple complaints regarding factual, typographical, grammatical, and translation errors in the English, Commerce, and Sociology question papers. A committee constituted by the agency reportedly found several deficiencies, including misspelled names, ambiguous terminology, grammatical mistakes, and repetition of previously administered questions.
Following these findings, the NTA decided to re-conduct the English and Commerce examinations on September 9, 2026, and the Sociology examination on September 10, 2026. The High Court's intervention now places the decision under judicial scrutiny, raising broader questions regarding transparency, fairness, and accountability in national-level examinations.