Delhi High Court seeks Centre, NTA reply on UGC-NET English re-test plea

The decision to make candidates sit for the UGC-NET English paper again has now reached the Delhi High Court. A candidate has challenged the re-exam and sought a refund of the fee already paid.

In Short

• Court also asked authorities to decide on refunding examination fees
• English and Commerce papers are fixed for September 9 re-examination
• Sociology paper is set for a fresh test on September 10

The Delhi High Court has sought responses from the Centre and the National Testing Agency (NTA) on a petition challenging the decision to re-conduct the UGC-NET June 2026 English examination.

Justice Jasmeet Singh issued notice on a plea filed by candidate Parul Sheoran, who appeared for the English paper. The petition challenges the NTA’s August 16 notice ordering a fresh examination and calls the decision arbitrary.

The court has also asked authorities to decide on a refund of the examination fee. The matter will next be heard on October 6.

FRESH TEST, OLD RESULTS AT STAKE

Sheoran has sought quashing of the August 16 notice and asked the authorities to process or declare the results of the English examination already held.

The petition argues that the decision to re-conduct the paper was taken without disclosing the material behind it and without following the procedure set out in the UGC-NET June 2026 Information Bulletin.

It also seeks a refund of the fee paid for the original examination if the fresh test is upheld. The petitioner has said candidates should be allowed to appear in the re-conducted examination without paying another fee.

WHY THE PAPERS ARE BEING RE-HELD

The NTA conducted UGC-NET June 2026 from June 22 to 30 across 87 subjects for Junior Research Fellowship, assistant professor eligibility and admission to PhD programmes.

The agency received complaints about errors in the English, Commerce and Sociology question papers and formed a committee to examine them.

The committee found factual, typographical and translation errors, including misspelt names of scholars, incorrect book titles, grammatical mistakes, punctuation errors and repeated questions.

WHAT HAPPENS NEXT

The English and Commerce papers are scheduled to be re-conducted on September 9, while Sociology will be held on September 10.

The October 6 hearing will be important for candidates who took the original examination.

The court has sought responses from the Centre and NTA, while the refund question remains under consideration.

(With PTI inputs)

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