The Supreme Court on Friday directed the Central government to place on record a comprehensive roadmap for restructuring and strengthening the functioning of the National Testing Agency (NTA), noting that recurring irregularities in the conduct of the National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test (NEET) will continue unless clear institutional accountability is fixed within the examination framework.
The Bench of Justice PS Narasimha and Justice Alok Aradhe further observed that the absence of clearly identifiable duty holders within the examination system had resulted in a diffused obligation, making it difficult to determine responsibility when lapses occurred. Unless individual accountability was institutionalised and responsibilities were specifically assigned, systemic failures in national-level examinations would continue to recur, it added.
While hearing a batch of petitions arising out of the alleged leak of the NEET UG 2026 question paper and the subsequent cancellation of the examination conducted on May 3, 2026, the Court said the controversy surrounding the NEET examination was deeply traumatic for students and their families. The issue involved not merely academic evaluation but also years of preparation, emotional investment and professional aspirations of lakhs of candidates, it pointed out, adding that such incidents undermined public confidence in the integrity of competitive examinations.
Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, appearing for the Union government, submitted that the Centre was seriously concerned about the matter and informed the Court that Prime Minister Narendra Modi was personally monitoring developments relating to the paper leak allegations and the remedial measures being undertaken.
The Court further observed that several Indian institutions continued to suffer from ad-hoc administrative functioning and lacked continuity in institutional knowledge. Stressing the need for structural reforms, the Bench directed that instead of the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MHFW), the Ministry of Human Resource Development (MHRD) should file a detailed affidavit explaining the proposed mechanism for conducting national examinations and strengthening the human resource architecture of NTA through the inclusion of domain experts and specialised personnel.
The objective was to ensure that the NTA possessed adequate physical, technological and intellectual infrastructure to prevent any recurrence of incidents similar to the controversies surrounding the NEET examinations of 2024 and 2026, it explained, and listed the matter for further hearing in July.
Several petitions were filed after the alleged leak of the NEET UG 2026 question paper. Following the controversy, the Union government and the NTA cancelled the examination, while the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) was directed to investigate the allegations.
One of the petitions was filed by the Federation of All India Medical Association (FAIMA) through Advocate Tanvi Dubey, seeking restructuring or replacement of the NTA. The plea sought directions for conducting a fresh NEET UG 2026 examination under the supervision of a judicially appointed committee headed by a retired Supreme Court judge. It also sought systemic reforms, including digital encryption and locking of question papers, transition to a Computer-Based Test (CBT) model and publication of centre-wise results for detection of statistical anomalies and malpractice patterns.
Another plea filed by the United Doctors Front through Advocates Ritu Reniwal and Charu Mathur challenged the existing statutory and administrative framework governing the NTA and sought dissolution of the agency in its present form.
The Court also heard a separate petition filed by Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) Member of Parliament Sudhakar Singh, social activist Anubhav Garg, Indian Medical Association spokesperson Dhruv Chauhan and political leader Harisharan Devgan. The petitioners sought immediate migration of the NEET examination process to a fully Computer-Based Testing system, including for the re-examination scheduled to be conducted on June 21, 2026.
The Bench also examined the status of compliance with the recommendations made by the High-Powered Committee constituted earlier to reform the NEET examination process following similar allegations in 2024. During the hearing, the Court questioned whether deficiencies existed either in the recommendations of the committee or in their implementation, considering that another paper leak controversy had surfaced despite the reforms proposed earlier.
K Radhakrishnan, chairman of the High-Powered Committee, informed the Court that approximately 60 recommendations had been made, most of which had already been implemented. He submitted that NEET UG 2025 had been conducted smoothly except for isolated logistical issues such as power failures at certain centres.
He further stated that State governments and district administrations had now been integrated into the examination security framework to strengthen monitoring and secure examination conduct.
However, the Bench questioned whether the latest paper leak indicated the existence of vulnerabilities not previously contemplated by the committee. Radhakrishnan informed the Court that additional safeguards and operational practices were currently being implemented for the re-examination process.
The Court reiterated that its endeavour was to ensure meaningful institutional reforms and advised the authorities to study best practices adopted by other examination and assessment bodies. It also stressed the necessity of establishing a permanent full-time expert body within the NTA to supervise examination governance and security protocols.
The Solicitor General informed the Court that additional mechanisms had already been introduced for the re-examination scheduled for June 21, though he submitted that certain security measures could not be publicly disclosed at this stage as it may compromise the effectiveness of the safeguards.
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