The Supreme Court said a plea challenging NTA’s decision to cancel and re-conduct NEET-UG 2026 for nearly 22 lakh candidates will be heard after court recess along with other NEET matters before Justice P.S. Narasimha Bench.
The Supreme Court on Wednesday said that a plea challenging the National Testing Agency’s (NTA) decision to cancel and re-conduct NEET-UG 2026 for nearly 22 lakh candidates nationwide would be listed before the Bench headed by Justice P.S. Narasimha after the partial court working days, along with all other pending NEET matters. The case was mentioned before a Bench comprising Chief Justice of India (CJI) Surya Kant and Justice V. Mohana.
The petition was filed by former Assistant Director General of Health Services, Dr. Mangala Kohli, challenging the NTA’s order for a nationwide re-examination following allegations of paper leaks and examination malpractice. At the beginning of the hearing, the petitioner’s counsel sought a passover. Responding,
CJI Surya Kant observed:
“This will go before a bench of Justice P.S. Narasimha, after the vacations, where all NEET pleas are listed.”
Filed as a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) under Article 32 of the Constitution, the petition seeks quashing of the decision directing a nationwide re-test. It raises concerns relating to constitutional fairness, proportionality, institutional accountability, and the rights of bona fide candidates under Articles 14, 19(1)(g) and 21. Dr. Kohli, a former senior medical administrator linked to medical education and public health, stated that she has been engaged with issues involving transparency, standardisation and fairness in medical admissions and entrance examinations efforts she said contributed to the development of NEET as a unified and merit-based national entrance test.
While the petition acknowledges that allegations of paper leaks and examination malpractice are serious and require strict investigation and exemplary action against those responsible, it argues that lakhs of genuine candidates should not bear the consequences of alleged institutional or administrative failures attributable to the examination-conducting authority.
According to the petition, investigations conducted by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) have pointed to organised networks involving intermediaries, coaching facilitators and individuals associated with access to confidential examination processes. The plea further contends that statements by the investigating agencies indicate that persons entrusted with confidential examination material allegedly misused such access by circulating actual question papers through organised coaching activities, with intermediaries operating across identified centres and regions.
The petitioner’s case is that the material disclosed by investigating agencies reflects “localised operational compromise through specific organised networks” rather than establishing contamination across the entire examination process. Despite this, the NTA, the plea says, cancelled the examination and ordered a nationwide reconduct of NEET-UG 2026, requiring approximately 22 lakh students to take one of the country’s most competitive entrance examinations again.
The PIL states that the impugned decision has resulted in severe academic, mental and financial hardship for lakhs of candidates—an overwhelming majority, it claims, has no involvement in the alleged wrongdoing. It also argues that the action has disrupted the broader medical admissions process across the country.
Along with challenging the decision to re-conduct the exam, the plea seeks broad institutional and technological reforms for national-level competitive examinations. It seeks directions for secure, technology-driven digital examination and evaluation systems, including encrypted digital question delivery, biometric authentication, AI-assisted monitoring, and secure computer-based examination infrastructure. As an interim relief, it requested a stay on the implementation of the nationwide re-conduct order and directions preventing authorities from proceeding with the proposed re-examination or taking any consequential steps during the pendency of the PIL.
The petition contends that although those responsible for any compromise must be identified and proceeded against, a blanket cancellation and re-examination of the entire candidate population fails to meet standards of constitutional fairness and proportionality, and effectively penalises lakhs of meritorious students who were not implicated in any alleged misconduct.
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In related developments, the Supreme Court recently refused a plea seeking a re-test of the NEET-UG 2026 scheduled on June 21 through a Computer-Based Test (CBT) mode. A Bench of Justices P.S. Narasimha and Aravind Kumar was hearing a petition filed by RJD MP Sudhakar Singh, which sought an immediate shift of NEET examinations to a CBT-based system. The Bench posted the matter to July, effectively declining relief on the re-test.
Justice Narasimha observed:
“You know what kind of problems we are having. The examination was cancelled, it is being reconducted…the kind of pressure that they have, similar matters we have dismissed,”
Earlier, on May 29, the Court underscored the urgent need for structural reforms within the NTA, noting that recurring NEET controversies would continue unless clear individual accountability is fixed within the system. The Bench of Justices P.S. Narasimha and Alok Aradhe made observations while hearing a set of petitions concerning the NEET-UG 2026 paper leak and the subsequent cancellation of the examination.
The Bench remarked: “The real problem won’t stop till actual accountability arises… Unless you identify the duty holders, it will be a diffused obligation,” emphasising that responsibility within the examination framework cannot remain vague or confined only to institutional levels.
Describing the incident as “very traumatic”, the Court said students and their families should not suffer due to repeated failures in conducting national-level examinations. The Bench observed:
“We cannot disappoint our students. It is not merely the student, it’s the family too… It is so much of emotions, love, time, years of study,”
Case Title: Mangala Kohli v. Union of India & Ors.