Sad that NTA has not learned its lesson, so SC reacts to NEET-UG 2026 paper leak

Police detained members of the National Students’ Union of India (NSUI) who were staging a protest against the NEET Paper Leak issue in New Delhi. | Photo credit: PTI

The Supreme Court on Monday (May 25, 2026) squarely accused the National Testing Agency (NTA) of the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test Undergraduate (NEET-UG) 2026 paper leak, saying that the examination body has sadly failed to learn its lesson even two years after the last security breach in 2024.

Also read | In 2024 NTA and Govt. did not want to scrap NEET, cited student welfare in Supreme Court

The hard work of 23 thousand students went in vain after it was learned that the question paper for NEET-UG 2026 was leaked. The exam was canceled and a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) probe was ordered. Retesting is scheduled for June 21, 2026.

A repeat of 2024?

For the Supreme Court, the NEET-UG 2026 paper leak was a repeat of what happened in 2024, which similarly jeopardized the career and future of more than 20 lakh students. The court at that time took cognizance of the fiasco and heard the petitioners for many days and decided not to cancel the 2024 exam on the grounds that the leak had been located.

However, the Supreme Court recognized that the examination process needs to be reformed and made reliable. It ordered the constitution of a committee headed by former ISRO chairman K. Radhakrishnan to recommend changes in the way the NTA conducted the crucial annual examination for admission to medical aid across the country.

“It is really so sad that NTA has not learned its lessons. With such difficulty, we heard the petitions in 2024 and passed the orders… We ordered the constitution of a committee to make recommendations… These recommendations, we believe, have been accepted… a high-powered monitoring committee has been appointed,” observed Justice PS Narasimha, who headed the two-judge bench.

The court was hearing a request by the Federation of All India Medical Association (FAIMA) for “replacement or major restructuring” of the NTA.

A second petition by the United Doctors Front was also heard, seeking the transition of the NTA from a registered company to a statutory body established by an Act of Parliament to ensure constitutional and parliamentary accountability. The medical body said the 2026 paper leak was part of the NTA’s “repeated, systemic and catastrophic failure” in conducting the NEET-UG examination.

The Bench issued notices to the petitions of Union of India, Department of Education, NTA and other respondents raised by the petitioners.

The court directed the NTA to file an affidavit in the next three days on the measures it has taken to implement the recommendations of the monitoring/executive committee, including switching to a computer-based testing (CBT) mechanism. Mr. Radhakrishnan was also asked to file a separate affidavit within the same deadline on the steps taken to ensure that the committee’s recommendations were followed. The court listed the case for an urgent hearing later this week.

The petitions sought sweeping directions from the government to mandate “digital locking” of question papers and shift to the CBT model to eliminate risks of physical chain of custody.

The doctors’ body pointed out that unlike the Union Public Service Commission or staff selection, the NTA is not directly accountable to Parliament. It operated under the Ministry of Education and shielded it from direct audits by the CAG and mandatory investigations by parliamentary committees.

“Repeatedly, cosmetic administrative arrangements and expert committees like the K. Radhakrishnan Committee are insufficient without a major legislative overhaul,” the petition claims.

The doctors’ front sought the dissolution of the NTA in its current form and the enactment of an Act of Parliament to create a new testing body.

Published – 25 May 2026 12:01 IST