Supreme Court declines plea to hold NEET re-test in computer-based mode

The Supreme Court, on Monday, June 1, 2026, refused to direct the National Testing Agency (NTA) to conduct the NEET-UG 2026 re-exam in a computer-based test (CBT) format instead of the existing pen and paper mode, observing that changing the exam mode at this stage would create practical difficulties.

The NEET-UG 2026 exam, which was first held on May 3, was canceled across the country on May 12 following allegations of paper leaks. As a result, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) launched an investigation and a fresh investigation was scheduled for June 21.

The Bench of Justices PS Narasimha and Aravind Kumar expressed reluctance to grant the relief sought by the petitioner and postponed the consideration of the plea until July, after the end of the court’s partial working days. The bench was hearing a petition by Rashtriya Janata Dal MP Sudhakar Singh seeking a set of directions on the conduct of medical entry examination.

During the hearing, the petitioner’s counsel limited himself to his plea that the re-examination should be conducted in CBT mode, arguing that this would minimize the possibility of another document leak. “I’m not pressing another prayer today. It has to be CBT,” he said.

However, the Bench noted that similar requests have been rejected in the past. Referring to the difficulties of re-running the exam in a short time, the Court said, “As much pressure as there was on them, we also ignored similar issues.”

When petitioner’s counsel argued that authorities continued to examine with paper and pencil despite the paper leak, the Board noted the logistical constraints faced by examining authorities. It was said, “You know what kind of problems we are experiencing. The exam has been cancelled. It is being held again.”

As the petitioner continued to press for a CBT-based retest, the court stated that it was not inclined to review the matter immediately and directed the matter to be listed after the court’s partial working days are over. “We will continue this after the holiday,” Bench said.

The petition has been tagged with a number of pending cases seeking broader reforms in the functioning of the NTA and the conduct of competitive examinations.

Earlier, another Bench led by Justice Narasimha had expressed serious concern over the cancellation of the exam following allegations of paper leak and described the development as “very traumatic” for the students and their families. The court underlined the need to be accountable for errors affecting thousands of candidates.

“The real problem will not end until real accountability is achieved. There will be no accountability on the part of this or that individual, it will be effective when we know which individual bears the responsibility. Unless you identify specific duty bearers, it will be difficult,” Justice Narasimha observed.

The bench had also directed the Union government and NTA to record the measures taken to prevent recurrence of such incidents.

In its affidavit, NTA informed the court that in consultation with the Centre, it has decided to switch NEET-UG to CBT mode from the next examination cycle. Stating that the High Level Committee of Experts (HLCE), formed to review the examination process, recommended this change, the institution noted that all other important examinations conducted by the institution are currently computer-based.

“The transition will be implemented in consultation with the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (Ministry of client NEET-UG) from the next examination cycle, thereby bringing all major NTA exams on the CBT platform,” the affidavit said. The statement was included.

The agency also informed the court that the June 21 reexamination will be conducted under a strengthened standard operating procedure framework that includes multi-layer authentication, enhanced surveillance measures and greater interagency coordination.