NEET paper leak: NTA has not learnt lessons, says Supreme Court; issues notices on pleas
The NEET exam was cancelled on May 12 amid allegations of paper leak
Noting that the National Testing Agency (NTA) has not learnt any lessons from earlier NEET paper leaks, the Supreme Court on Monday issued notice to the Centre and the NTA and the CBI on petitions seeking dissolution of NTA following cancellation of NEET-UG 2026 over allegations of widespread paper leak.
“It is sad that they have not learnt their lessons. The matter travelled to this court earlier also. We passed an order, a committee was formed… a monitoring committee which made some recommendations and they were accepted but…” a Bench led by Justice PS Narasimha said, directing the NTA and the Centre to respond to petitions filed by Federation of All India Medical Association and United Doctor’s Front.
The top court directed that copies of petitions be given to Solicitor General Tushar Mehta besides other parties.
The Bench – which also included Justice Alok Aradhe asked the NTA to spell out the steps taken for compliance of recommendations suggested by the committee. It also asked the NTA—which conducts the NEET examination—to file an affidavit by Thursday on compliance of its directions issued in 2024.
“We direct NTA to file an affidavit indicating the position as regards the monitoring committee constituted on November 14. We direct K Radhakrishnan (former ISRO chief), 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,” the Bench said, posting the matter for further hearing on May 29.
As the petitioners talked about re-examination, the Bench said, “We are not so much on the re-examination.”
On May 12, the Centre and the NTA cancelled the NEET-UG 2026 held on May 3 and the NEET paper leak case has since been handed over to the CBI which has arrested at least 11 accused from Delhi, Gurugram, Jaipur, Nasik, Pune and some other places. The exam has been rescheduled to June 21.
Alleging a “systemic failure”, petitioners Federation of All India Medical Association and United Doctor’s Front have sought replacement of the testing agency with a robust and autonomous body to conduct the medical entrance exam.
Seeking a complete overhaul of the national testing framework, they requested the top court to direct the Government to replace the NTA with a “technologically advanced and autonomous body” to restore the integrity of medical entrance examinations.
The petitioners have demanded structural and technological reforms, including mandatory “digital locking” of question papers and a transition to a Computer-Based Test (CBT) model to eliminate risks associated with the physical handling and transportation of examination materials.
The Association urged the top court to constitute a high-powered monitoring committee headed by a retired Supreme Court judge and including cybersecurity and forensic experts to oversee the re-conduct of the 2026 exam.
It sought a direction to the CBI to file a status report in four weeks detailing the progress of its probe into the paper leak, including the network uncovered, arrests made and steps taken toward prosecution of the accused.
“Guess papers” circulating on encrypted platforms like WhatsApp and Telegram matched more than 100 questions from the actual exam paper, it alleged.
The cancellation of the NEET (UG) 2026 Exam has left more than 22 lakh medical aspirants and their families anxious about the fresh examination date, admit cards, examination centres and the counselling timeline, the petitioners submitted.
