New Delhi: The Delhi High Court on Thursday sought a response from the National Board of Examination (NBE) on a doctor's plea for revaluation in the Diplomate National Board (DNB) examination.

Justice Vikas Mahajan issued notices to the NBE and the Centre on the petition filed by a DNB trainee doctor at Gangaram Hospital in Delhi. The court asked the NBE counsel to obtain instructions and posted the matter for August 29.

The petitioner challenged the “arbitrary” condition in the August 14 notice and clause 5.3 of the information bulletin, which allows revaluation only if an answer is wrongly marked as “not attempted.” Represented by advocate Tanvi Dubey, the doctor argued that the condition precludes revaluation in other circumstances, including the present case where evaluation allegedly led to a substantial discrepancy between the actual and expected scores.

The plea said the answer sheets show clear discrepancies, but the lack of a revaluation option prevents transparency. It described the clause allowing revaluation only for unattempted questions as “totally vitiated,” denying the petitioner a way to address errors in her answer key.

The petitioner sought revaluation, not grace marks, and claimed denial of proper evaluation caused irreparable prejudice, as she was unjustly declared unsuccessful in the theory exam. “As a consequence, she has been deprived of her right to appear in the practical examination, wasting years of academic training and affecting her professional career and future prospects,” the plea said.