Supreme Court Issues Notice to NTA Over Alleged NEET-UG 2026 Paper Leak, Seeks Status of Monitoring Mechanism

May 25, 2026 : The Supreme Court has issued notice to the National Testing Agency (NTA) in a batch of petitions concerning the alleged question paper leak in NEET-UG 2026, one of India’s largest and most competitive medical entrance examinations. A Bench of Justices PS Narasimha and Alok Aradhe expressed serious concern over the recurrence of examination irregularities despite earlier directions and institutional safeguards framed after the NEET-UG 2024 controversy.

During the hearing, the Bench observed that repeated allegations of paper leaks pointed to a troubling failure in implementing corrective measures already mandated by the apex court. The judges noted that comprehensive safeguards, including recommendations of a high-powered committee, a regulatory framework, and an oversight monitoring mechanism, had previously been introduced to prevent such incidents.

Issuing notice in all connected petitions, the Court directed that copies of the pleas be supplied to the Solicitor General and other respondents. The Bench also asked the NTA to file an affidavit detailing the present status and functioning of the monitoring committee constituted on November 14. The chairman of the committee, K. Radhakrishnan, was further directed to submit a separate affidavit explaining compliance with the recommendations of the expert committee formed after the earlier NEET controversy. The matter is scheduled for further hearing on May 29.

During the proceedings, counsel appearing for one of the petitioners informed the Court that the Union government had already announced June 21, 2026, as the proposed date for the re-examination. The Supreme Court, however, clarified that its primary concern was not merely the scheduling of a fresh examination but the larger institutional and administrative failures that allegedly allowed such incidents to recur despite prior judicial intervention.

The petitions were filed after the Union government and the NTA cancelled NEET-UG 2026, which had been conducted on May 3, following allegations of a large-scale paper leak and an ongoing investigation by the Central Bureau of Investigation.

One of the petitions, filed by the Federation of All India Medical Association through Advocate Tanvi Dubey, seeks restructuring or replacement of the NTA and demands a fresh examination under the supervision of a judicially monitored committee headed by a retired Supreme Court judge. The plea also calls for structural reforms, including encrypted digital storage 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 Advocate Ritu Reniwal, challenges the organisational and accountability framework of the NTA. The plea argues that the agency, being registered under the Societies Registration Act, 1860, lacks adequate statutory accountability and parliamentary oversight. It seeks the creation of a statutory national testing authority through legislation enacted by Parliament.

According to the petitioners, recurring paper leak incidents violate Articles 14 and 21 of the Constitution by undermining transparency, merit-based selection, and equal opportunity for more than 22 lakh candidates appearing in the examination. The petitions also refer to reports concerning an alleged “guess paper racket” uncovered by the Rajasthan Police Special Operations Group (SOG), which reportedly found substantial similarities between leaked material and the actual examination paper.

The pleas further contend that recommendations made by the K. Radhakrishnan Committee after the NEET-UG 2024 controversy were not effectively implemented. Among the reforms sought are transition to CBT or hybrid examination systems, encrypted digital transmission of papers, biometric verification, AI-enabled surveillance, and creation of an independent court-monitored oversight mechanism for national examinations.

A separate petition filed by Sudhakar Singh, social activist Anubhav Garg, Dhruv Chauhan, and political leader Harisharan Devgan has also sought an immediate shift of NEET-UG to a fully computer-based format, including for the proposed June 21 re-examination.

The petitioners have additionally sought directions for a time-bound roadmap to migrate NEET examinations entirely to CBT mode with adequate cybersecurity safeguards, accessibility measures, and replacement of the NTA with an independent statutory examination authority subject to judicial and technological oversight.