CUET UG 2025: Delhi HC refuses to hear plea of student who was late for exam by 6 minutes

NEW DELHI: The Delhi High Court has refused relief to a student who missed the Common University Entrance Test by six minutes outlining the "sanctity and discipline" of examinations.

The 18-year-old candidate claimed on May 13 she reached the exam center at around 8.36 am -- six minutes beyond the scheduled time of the test -- but was denied entry. A bench of Justices Prathiba M Singh and Rajneesh Kumar Gupta was hearing her plea against a single judge's order declining to intervene in the matter.

The Delhi High Court bench observed that the information bulletin of the National Testing Authority and the admit card gave very specific instructions on reaching the centre at around 7 am, two hours prior to the commencement of CUET UG exam , as gates would shut at around 8.30 am.

The bench said leniency in the conduct of such a large-scale examination would lead to chaos and "discipline of the examination ought to be maintained".

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"The CUET is an important entrance examination and the discipline in arriving at the examination hall in time, taking the seat in time and being at the center before the gate closing time, are all part of the discipline and ethos of the examination ecosystem which ought not to be relaxed, inasmuch as, the same may lead to huge inequities between similarly placed students," the court held on May 31.

The bench dismissed her appeal and said, "One might feel that it was only a matter of six minutes, but the authorities could not be blamed for enforcing the rule of gate closing timings strictly and discrimination was not a valid ground to interfere."

Being "extremely conscious" of the negative impact on the student's career, the court said it could not lose sight of the discipline required to be maintained in such examinations.

"The CUET UG examination is an exam where more than 13.54 lack students from across the country appear. If exceptions are made, and discipline is not followed in such an exam, the timely conduct of the exam, the timely announcement of results and timely admission to colleges and Universities is all likely to be jeopardised and there would be a cascading effect. In such matters, the interference by the Court should be the least (sic)," it stated.