The Supreme Court on Wednesday issued notice on a public interest petition questioning the legality and constitutional propriety of the decision of the National Board of Examinations in Medical Science to substantially lower the qualifying cut-off percentiles for the NEET-PG 2025–26 examination cycle.
The Bench of Justice Pamidighantam Sri Narasimha and Justice Alok Aradhe passed the order on a PIL filed by Advocate-on-Record Neema, challenging the NBE notification of January 13, 2026, which revised the minimum qualifying standards for postgraduate medical admissions downward to unprecedented levels, including zero and negative percentiles.
The petitioners contended that the exercise amounted to an arbitrary dilution of eligibility norms governing entry into postgraduate medical education. They alleged that the impugned decision failed the test of reasonableness under Article 14 of the Constitution and impermissibly encroached upon the right to life under Article 21, which had been consistently interpreted by the Supreme Court to encompass access to safe and competent medical care.
The Counsel appearing for the petitioners argued that lowering academic thresholds in a discipline intrinsically linked to human life, bodily integrity and dignity underminesd public health outcomes and eroded the foundational principle of merit-based selection.
The reduction of qualifying standards, ostensibly undertaken to address vacant postgraduate seats, converted a national-level competitive examination into a procedural formality divorced from academic rigour. Such an approach negated the doctrine of meritocracy repeatedly emphasised by the Court in medical education jurisprudence, including in Modern Dental College and Research Centre v. State of Madhya Pradesh and Priya Gupta v. State of Chhattisgarh, where the primacy of merit and transparency in admissions was reaffirmed, added the lawyer.
The petition contended that the impugned notification ran contrary to the statutory framework under the National Medical Commission Act, 2019, which mandated the maintenance of uniform and high standards of medical education. It argued that institutionalising dilution at the postgraduate level defeated the legislative intent underlying regulatory oversight by the National Medical Commission and compromised long-term healthcare quality.
Emphasising the heightened responsibilities attached to postgraduate medical training, the petition cautioned against normalising lowered benchmarks in specialised disciplines, where clinical decision-making directly affected patient safety. The plea maintained that administrative convenience or seat-occupancy considerations could not justify systemic erosion of professional competence in a regulated and life-critical profession. The Apex Court issued notice on the plea and listed the matter for further hearing on February 6, 2026.
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