SC seeks NTA's reply in NEET paper leak case, says it hasn't learnt its lesson

The Supreme Court on Monday issued notice to the National Testing Agency (NTA) on a batch of petitions concerning the alleged leak of the NEET UG 2026 question paper.

A Bench of Justices PS Narasimha and Alok Aradhe expressed concern over repeated allegations of paper leaks despite the Supreme Court’s earlier directions after the NEET 2024 controversy. “It is sad that they have not learned their lesson. We passed an order. A committee was formed. It made recommendations, it was accepted. The monitoring committee was also there,” the court observed.

The court issued notice to the NTA and other respondents and sought their response to the petitions. We direct K Radhakrishnan, chairman of the committee, to file an affidavit with the steps taken to ensure compliance with the directions of the high-powered committee. List on Friday (May 29),” the court ordered.

During the hearing, counsel for one of the petitioners pointed out that the government has already announced the date for the re-examination. The re-test is scheduled for June 21, 2026.

However, the court clarified, “We are not so much on the re-examination.” The petitions were filed after the Union government and the NTA cancelled the NEET UG 2026 examination held on May 3, following allegations of a large-scale paper leak and an ongoing CBI investigation.

One of the petitions has been filed by the Federation of All India Medical Association (FAIMA) through Advocate Tanvi Dubey. The plea seeks restructuring or replacement of the NTA and asks the Supreme Court to direct that NEET UG 2026 be conducted again under the supervision of a judicially appointed committee headed by a retired Supreme Court judge.

The petition also seeks reforms such as digital locking of question papers, transition to a Computer-Based Test (CBT) model and publication of centre-wise results to detect irregularities.

Another petition, filed by the United Doctors Front through advocates Ritu Reniwal and Charu Mathur, challenges the legal structure of the NTA. It argues that since the NTA is a society registered under the Societies Registration Act, 1860, it lacks direct parliamentary accountability and operates in what the petition describes as an “accountability vacuum.”

The plea seeks directions to the Union government to create a statutory national testing body through legislation passed by Parliament. According to the petition, repeated paper leak controversies violate Articles 14 and 21 of the Constitution because they undermine merit-based selection and affect the careers of more than 22 lakh candidates.

The petition also refers to reports of a “guess paper” racket allegedly uncovered by the Rajasthan Police Special Operations Group (SOG). It claims that investigators found substantial similarities between a circulated document and the actual NEET UG 2026 question paper.

The plea further states that reforms recommended after the NEET UG 2024 controversy, including those suggested by the K Radhakrishnan Committee, were not properly implemented.

A separate petition has been filed by Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) MP Sudhakar Singh, social activist Anubhav Garg, Indian Medical Association national spokesperson Dhruv Chauhan and political leader Harisharan Devgan.

Their plea seeks an immediate shift of NEET UG to a Computer-Based Test format, including for the re-examination scheduled on June 21, 2026.

The petitioners have also requested that the court direct the authorities to prepare a time-bound roadmap for the full transition of NEET to CBT mode. This includes infrastructure development, cybersecurity systems and accessibility arrangements for candidates.

They have additionally sought replacement of the NTA with a new independent examination authority having statutory accountability, judicial oversight and technological safeguards.

Other demands include encrypted digital transmission of question papers, biometric verification and AI-based surveillance systems for national-level examinations.

NEET had faced similar allegations of paper leaks in 2024. At that time, however, the NTA did not order a re-examination, stating that the leak was limited to Hazaribagh and Patna.

However, it directed the NTA to strengthen the NEET examination system and avoid “flip flops” regarding issues such as the security of strongrooms where question papers are stored and the grant of compensatory marks.

The apex court had also directed a seven-member committee constituted by the Central government to examine the issues and recommend corrective measures.
(With Bar and Bench inputs)