The Supreme Court on Monday pulled up the National Testing Agency (NTA) over the NEET-UG paper leak issue, stating that no lessons had been learned and mistakes were being repeated. The bench of Justices P S Narasimha and Alok Aradhe expressed concern over recurring incidents of mismanagement in conducting the medical entrance exam.
Background of the Case
In view of the difficulties faced by lakhs of students after the May 3 exam was cancelled due to a paper leak, with a fresh test scheduled on June 21, the bench decided to examine the process followed by NTA. This comes in light of various directions issued by the Supreme Court two years ago to make NEET fool-proof and tamper-free.
In 2024, the apex court had raised serious questions about NTA's functioning, stating that the manner in which NTA organized the exam gave rise to serious concerns, as the sanctity of NEET was compromised amid allegations of wrong questions and leak of question paper. The court had intervened and passed a slew of directions, but two years later, the situation seems to have worsened with the entire exam being scrapped.
Court's Observations
"It is sad. They haven't learnt their lessons. We passed an order directing constitution of a committee to give recommendations, which was accepted," the bench said at the outset of the hearing. The court sought responses from NTA and other authorities on a batch of petitions filed by doctors and students seeking the court's intervention to make the exam fool-proof.
The bench directed NTA to file an affidavit indicating the position regarding the monitoring committee constituted on November 14, 2024. Additionally, the court directed Dr. K. Radhakrishnan, chairman of the committee, to file an affidavit indicating the steps taken to ensure implementation of the directions given by the high-level committee of experts that submitted its report in October 2024. Both affidavits must be filed within three days.
Petitioners' Demands
The petitioners sought various directions, including strengthening NTA, giving it statutory backing, and preventing it from outsourcing work. The United Doctors Front (UDF), represented by advocates Charu Mathur and Ritu Reniwal, sought direction either to replace or fundamentally restructure the present NTA. It also urged that the fresh NEET-UG 2026 be conducted under judicial supervision.
UDF argued that recurring paper leaks violate Articles 14 and 21 of the Constitution of over 22 lakh medical aspirants and its merit-based selection. It stated that NTA, being a society registered under the Societies Registration Act of 1860, should be restructured to make it accountable to the people of the country.
