Former Assistant Director General of Health Services (DGHS) Dr. Mangala Kohli has moved the Supreme Court challenging the decision of the National Testing Agency (NTA) to cancel and re-conduct the National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test (NEET)-UG 2026 across the country for nearly 22 lakh candidates.
The Public Interest Litigation (PIL), filed under Article 32 of the Constitution through Advocate-on-Record Abhishek Chandra Mishra, seeks quashing of the decision directing a nationwide re-examination and raises issues relating to constitutional fairness, proportionality, institutional accountability and the fundamental rights of bona fide candidates under Articles 14, 19(1)(g) and 21 of the Constitution.
Dr. Kohli, a former senior medical administrator associated with public health and medical education, stated in the petition that she has remained actively engaged with issues concerning transparency, standardisation and fairness in medical admissions and entrance examinations. The plea further stated that she has been associated with institutional efforts that contributed to the evolution of NEET as a unified merit-based national entrance examination.
While acknowledging that allegations of question paper leaks and examination malpractice were serious and required thorough investigation and stringent action against those responsible, the petition contended that lakhs of genuine candidates cannot be made to suffer for administrative and institutional failures attributable to the examination-conducting authority.
According to the plea, investigations conducted by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) have revealed the existence of organised networks involving intermediaries, coaching facilitators and individuals allegedly connected with the confidential examination process.
The petition stated that official disclosures made during the investigation indicated that certain individuals entrusted with access to confidential examination material allegedly misused such access by circulating actual examination questions through organised coaching sessions and intermediary networks operating in identified centres and regions.
The plea further contended that the material disclosed during the investigation pointed to a localised compromise of the examination process through specific organised networks and did not establish nationwide contamination of the entire examination process. Despite this, the NTA proceeded to cancel the examination and order a fresh nationwide test, requiring approximately 22 lakh students to undergo one of the country’s most competitive entrance examinations once again.
It was argued that the decision has caused severe academic disruption, psychological stress and financial hardship to lakhs of candidates who have no connection whatsoever with the alleged malpractice. The impugned decision has adversely affected the larger medical admissions process across the country.
The petitioner contended that constitutional principles of fairness and proportionality required authorities to identify the tainted candidates, compromised centres and individuals involved in malpractice instead of imposing collective consequences upon the entire candidate population.
According to the plea, a blanket cancellation and re-examination affecting all candidates failed the constitutional test of proportionality and unfairly penalised meritorious students who were not implicated in any wrongdoing.
Apart from challenging the re-examination decision, the PIL sought comprehensive institutional and technological reforms in the conduct of national-level competitive examinations. It further sought directions for implementation of secure technology-driven examination and evaluation systems, including encrypted digital question paper delivery mechanisms, biometric authentication, artificial intelligence-assisted monitoring systems and secure computer-based examination infrastructure.
The petitioner further sought the constitution of an independent expert committee to examine structural, institutional and operational deficiencies in the functioning of the National Testing Agency. It also sought directions for the exclusion of compromised examination personnel, centres and operational networks identified during the investigation and implementation of enhanced security and supervisory safeguards for future examinations.
As an interim measure, the petition sought a stay on the operation and implementation of the decision directing the nationwide re-conduct of NEET-UG 2026, along with directions restraining the authorities from proceeding with the proposed re-examination or taking any consequential steps arising from it during the pendency of the proceedings.
The PIL stated that while individuals responsible for compromising the integrity of the examination must be identified and proceeded against in accordance with law, a nationwide cancellation affecting the entire candidate population cannot be justified when the available material indicates a localised breach rather than systemic nationwide contamination.
The plea has been filed amid continuing judicial scrutiny of issues relating to NEET-UG 2026. Recently, the Supreme Court declined to grant relief in a petition seeking the conduct of the NEET-UG 2026 examination scheduled for June 21 through a Computer-Based Test (CBT) mode.
The Bench of Justice PS Narasimha and Justice Aravind Kumar was hearing a petition filed by Rashtriya Janata Dal Member of Parliament Sudhakar Singh seeking immediate migration of the examination to a CBT-based system. The Bench posted the matter for hearing in July, effectively declining the request for a re-test through CBT mode.
During the hearing, Justice Narasimha observed that the Court had already dismissed similar petitions in the past and noted the challenges being faced due to the cancellation and re-conduct of the examination.
Earlier, on May 29, the Supreme Court had also emphasised the urgent need for structural reforms within the National Testing Agency while hearing a batch of petitions arising out of the NEET-UG 2026 paper leak controversy and the subsequent cancellation of the examination.
The Bench of Justice PS Narasimha and Justice Alok Aradhe observed that recurring controversies surrounding NEET examinations would continue unless clear individual accountability was fixed within the system. The Court stressed that responsibility within the examination framework could not remain vague or diffuse and observed that repeated failures in the conduct of national-level examinations cause immense hardship not only to students but also to their families, who invest significant time, effort and resources in the process.
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