SC asks petitioners seeking NTA reforms to file replies

The Supreme Court on Thursday asked petitioners, including a doctors’ association, to file their replies to the Centre’s affidavit, which said that the migration of the NEET (UG) examination from the pen-and-paper mode to a computer-based mode on the pattern of JEE (Mains and Advanced), is under active consideration.

A bench of Justices PS Narasimha and Alok Aradhe said that the court will take up the matter on August 19 and the petitioners can file their replies to the counter-affidavit filed by the Centre.

Advocate Tanvi Dubey, appearing for the Federation of All India Medical Association (FAIMA), informed the bench that in case there is any plan for transition to a computer-based model, then the same should be done at the earliest since the students’ preparation right now was driven by the pen-and-paper mode.

The bench said that it would consider everything and asked the parties to file their replies and suggestions.

Senior advocate Pijush Kanti Roy and advocate Satyam Singh Rajput appeared for RJD MP Sudhakar Singh, who has sought reforms in the National Testing Agency (NTA).

In its affidavit, the Centre said in respect of NEET (UG), the migration from the pen-and-paper mode to a computer-based mode, whether in a single-stage or a two-stage examination on the pattern of the Joint Entrance Examination (Mains and Advanced), is presently under active consideration by all stakeholders. 

“The Union of India respectfully submits that the final approach will be adopted after considering, and with the benefit of, the recommendations of the High-Powered Task Force under the chairmanship of Nandan Nilekani… The composition of the task force, with domain expertise drawn from technology, space, intelligence, academia and public administration, ensures a rigorous and holistic examination of the technological, security, equity, infrastructure and pedagogic dimensions of the transition,” it had said.

The Government further said it has undertaken a comprehensive overhaul of the conduct of the National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test (NEET) to eliminate paper leaks and systemic failures.

The affidavit was filed in response to the apex court’s May 29 direction asking the Union Government to explain how future NEET examinations would be conducted and how regulatory authorities would build and retain institutional memory to improve examination processes over successive years.

The Centre had said that Parliament has further strengthened the legal framework against examination fraud through the Public Examinations (Prevention of Unfair Means) Amendment Act, 2026, building on the 2024 law that criminalised question paper leaks, impersonation, tampering with computer systems and other examination-related offences.

One of the pleas sought a direction to replace or restructure the NTA, which is responsible for conducting NEET-UG, with a robust and autonomous body to conduct the medical entrance examination.

On May 12, the NTA cancelled NEET-UG, held on May 3, amid allegations of paper leak. The retest was held on June 21. The paper leak allegations are under investigation by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).

After questions of NEET-UG were allegedly leaked in 2024, the top court had refused to cancel the test, but passed various directions aimed at tackling paper leaks and also a criterion for cancelling public exams.