Supreme Court advocate and social activist Vineet Jindal who extended legal support to CBSE Class 12 students earlier this year over answer sheet mismatch is in the spotlight again. This time he is addressing woes of NEET UG 2026 aspirants and has even sent a legal notice to the National Testing Agency (NTA). Seeking a copy of OMR response sheet of a NEET UG candidate, he asserted that it is every candidate’s right to access his or her own examination record.

In a post on X, shared on Thursday, Vineet Jindal stated, “Today, I have issued a Legal Notice to NTA seeking a copy of OMR Answer Sheet of a NEET UG Candidate, asserting every candidate’s right to access his or her own examination record.” According to the lawyer, a RE-NEET 2026 female candidate, who expected around 468 was awarded only 266 marks in the national level competitive examination. The candidate calculated the marks after assessing her performance and comparing it with the final answer key released on 16 July.

The advocate alleged that the NEET candidate was unable to download her OMR response sheet due to technical issues on the NTA portal. Seeking a resolution from the testing agency, she wrote an email and set it to the NTA on 17 and 22 July but received no response.

In another post on X, the advocate revealed that he asked each complainant to provide a written undertaking affirming that the documents shared with him are genuine and have not been fabricated or altered to ensure the credibility of the complaints.

He even shared his email address ‘ssjdelhi@gmail.com’ for candidates facing a similar issue regarding OMR evaluation. He urged candidates seeking legal help to furnish complete details and provide supporting documents.

When did NTA open OMR response sheet download window

It is important to note that NTA released scanned copies of OMR answer sheets on 13 July. The window to access them closed two days later, on 15 July, and the NEET UG 2026 results were declared a day later, on 16 July night. During the same period, candidates could challenge recorded response and raise objections by paying a fee of ₹200 per question. NTA even provided scanned image of the OMR answer sheet on registered email address of candidates, besides its official website.

Timeline of events

The NTA had conducted the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test, Undergraduate (NEET UG) 2026 exam for admission to undergraduate medical education in all medical institutions across the country on 3 May. However, the exam was cancelled on 12 May due to alleged paper leak allegations. A re-examination was conducted on 21 June and the provisional answer key was released on 25 June. Even the re-exam was embroiled in controversy as candidates claimed that their answers were incorrectly evaluated.

NTA on 20 July issued a statement rejecting claims of discrepancy in evaluation. Dismissing OMR related issues as digitally fabricated, it said that images of OMR response sheets circulating online are fake and AI generated.