Supreme Court Vows to Strengthen NEET, Addresses Paper Leak Concerns

The Supreme Court on Friday assured that it would go the extra mile to address systemic issues and make the NEET examination foolproof, responding to widespread protests by students over paper leaks and demands for accountability and reforms.

A bench of Justices P S Narasimha and Alok Aradhe expressed concern over what it termed 'troubling ad-hocism' in the system, stating that such practices could not be allowed to continue. The court said it would closely monitor the process until the examination system is institutionalised.

Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, representing the government, told the court that the administration was ready to 'tread ten extra miles' to protect students' interests and that the matter was being supervised at the highest level. The court granted the government time until August 3 to submit details on the contours of the new system.

The court also asked the Centre to respond on the feasibility of switching to a computer-based test for medical entrance exams, similar to the IIT-JEE pattern. The bench highlighted several issues that needed attention, including data security, cyber security, and the implementation of recommendations from a high-level committee headed by former ISRO chairman K Radhakrishnan.

'We will highlight a couple of things we wanted to indicate... Last time, you mentioned the Radhakrishnan committee's recommendations. There is a specific reference to the governing board. So your affidavit should indicate what has been done with respect to the governing board, which would consist of transparency, nominations and stakeholders,' the bench said.

The court further inquired about the transition to computer-based testing: 'Can it be shifted? How will the data be transferred? How will the data be protected? Data safety is the most important aspect. You indicate to us. Cybersecurity, who is to undertake it, how it is to be conducted etc.'

Dr K Radhakrishnan, who heads the monitoring committee constituted by the Supreme Court in 2024 to suggest ways to strengthen NEET, informed the court that the committee had submitted 35 long-term and around 60 short-term recommendations, most of which had already been implemented. He said the reforms had yielded positive results in NEET-PG 2025, which was conducted 'mostly satisfactorily' except for minor issues such as power outages.

The court was hearing a batch of petitions, including those filed by the Federation of All India Medical Association and United Doctors Front, seeking intervention to make NEET tamper-free. The bench reiterated its commitment to ensuring a transparent and foolproof examination system, stating that it would keep monitoring the process until the reforms are fully institutionalised.