Featured image for Supreme Court Judgment dated 22-11-2018 in case of petitioner name The Central Board of Secondary vs T.K. Rangarajan and Others
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NEET-UG 2018 Translation Errors: Supreme Court’s Verdict on Grace Marks

The case at hand involves the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) and students who appeared for the National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test-UG (NEET-UG) 2018 in Tamil. The dispute arose due to alleged mistranslations in the Tamil version of the exam, leading the Madras High Court to grant 196 grace marks to nearly 24,000 Tamil-medium students. The Supreme Court, however, overturned this decision, ruling that such an approach was arbitrary and unjustified.

Arguments by the Petitioner (CBSE)

The CBSE contended that:

  • NEET-UG is a standardized test for medical admissions, and grace marks without merit distort fairness.
  • The examination instructions clearly stated that in case of discrepancies, the English version of the question would prevail.
  • Errors in translation did not justify awarding 196 marks indiscriminately to all Tamil-medium candidates.

Arguments by the Respondents (Tamil-medium Students)

The students who appeared for the exam in Tamil argued that:

  • Translation errors misled them, making it difficult to answer certain questions accurately.
  • The awarding of grace marks was necessary to compensate for their disadvantage.
  • The principle of fairness required that students affected by mistranslations should not be penalized.

Observations by the Supreme Court

The Supreme Court critically analyzed the High Court’s ruling and made key observations:

“The method adopted by the High Court is manifestly arbitrary and unjustified and cannot be sustained.”

The Court emphasized that errors in translation should not lead to blanket grace marks, especially without assessing whether students attempted those questions. It further held:

“The consequence is equally unjust and unacceptable as the students who gave the examination in Tamil have been unduly benefited only because they opted to give the examination in Tamil.”

Final Judgment

The Supreme Court overturned the Madras High Court’s order and directed that from 2019-20 onwards, the NEET-UG exam should be conducted by the National Testing Agency (NTA) with improved translation mechanisms. The appeal by CBSE was allowed, and the grace marks decision was quashed.


Petitioner Name: The Central Board of Secondary Education.
Respondent Name: T.K. Rangarajan and Others.
Judgment By: Justice S.A. Bobde, Justice L. Nageswara Rao.
Place Of Incident: Tamil Nadu.
Judgment Date: 22-11-2018.

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