NEET paper leak case: Supreme Court calls cancellation of exam ‘painful’, advises NTA to learn from UPSC

New Delhi, 29 May. The Supreme Court, while hearing the NEET-UG 2026 paper leak case on Friday, termed the cancellation of the examination as ‘painful’ and said that this examination is an investment of immense emotions and aspirations.

The apex court raised several questions regarding the paper leak and laid emphasis on accountability, saying that the responsibility should fall on those individuals who can be identified. The Supreme Court also advised the National Testing Agency (NTA) to learn from the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC), which has never faced such irregularities.

Solicitor General said – ‘PM Modi himself is monitoring‘

During the hearing of the case, the Supreme Court was told that the Prime Minister is personally monitoring the NEET paper leak case so that no mistake is made. Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, representing the Central Government, said in the Supreme Court that the entire matter is being monitored by Prime Minister Narendra Modi himself.

Central government directed to file a separate affidavit

The Supreme Court has directed the Central Government (Ministry of Education) to file a separate affidavit explaining what kind of arrangements have been made by the NTA to institutionalize the process of conducting and concluding NEET on an annual basis.

Justice P.S. A bench of Justices Narasimha and Alok Aradhe said the affidavit should make it clear how institutional memory and expertise will be developed through the deployment of specialized personnel and a broader structure of experts within the NTA.

The Court said that efforts should be made to ensure that the NTA has the necessary physical and intellectual resources to prevent recurrence of incidents like the NEET controversies of 2024 and 2026.

Radhakrishnan Committee had given new suggestions to ensure error free system

During the hearing of the case, Solicitor General Tushar Mehta said that Dr. Koppilil Radhakrishnan, former Chairman of the Space Commission and former Chairman of ISRO, has filed an affidavit. Radhakrishnan was the head of the committee which had given new suggestions to ensure an error-free system and they will be implemented this time.

Justice Narasimha asked – Also tell us how the failure happened?

Justice Narasimha asked Radhakrishnan, ‘How much monitoring has been done over the implementation? Were you holding regular meetings? Also, tell us how the failure occurred? If this incident has happened despite your monitoring based on the recommendation of the high level committee, then there is something wrong with the original recommendation because you imagined a situation that could have arisen. Secondly, there may not have been effective monitoring. How did this happen?’

Radhakrishnan said that after the problems faced in NEET, a high-level committee was formed in June 2024 and they gave 101 recommendations. The bench was informed that 60 recommendations were made for the short-term plan (2025 and 2026 trials), most of which have been implemented, and 35 recommendations were made for the long-term plan, work on many of which has already begun.

The court said – the real problem will not be solved until real accountability is fixed.

Justice Narasimha said, ‘Mr Solicitor, the real problem will not be solved until real accountability is fixed. Until accountability is fixed… accountability will be effective only when you know the person who is holding the responsibility.

The SG said that the government is serious about the concerns of the youth. On this, Justice Narasimha said, ‘We have simultaneously established world class institutions like UPSC. Preliminary examination and other examinations are also conducted smoothly. Such a situation has never happened before. We should learn from each other’s institutions. The problem is that most institutions are ad-hoc. This is a problem prevalent throughout the country. The capability lies not in the individual but in the institution.

The bench directed that instead of the Union Health Ministry, the Human Resource Development Ministry should submit an affidavit regarding improvement in human resources by conducting annual examinations and involving experts in the relevant field in the NTA. Instructions have been given to file the affidavit within six weeks.

NEET-UG is to be held again on June 21.

It is noteworthy that on May 12, NTA had canceled the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET) held on May 3 for medical admission amid allegations of question paper leak. The re-examination has been scheduled for June 21 while the question paper leak allegations are being investigated by the CBI.

The Supreme Court had refused to cancel the examination in 2024.

Interestingly, even in 2024, after the alleged leak of NEET-UG question papers, the Supreme Court had refused to cancel the examination, but had issued several directions aimed at dealing with question paper leaks and had also laid down criteria for canceling public examinations.