The Supreme Court said it would continue monitoring the investigation into the alleged 2026 NEET-UG paper leak, stressing that identifying procedural lapses alone is insufficient unless real accountability is fixed on those responsible for compromising the integrity of one of India’s largest competitive medical entrance examinations.
The Supreme Court said it would continue to “monitor for some time” the investigation into the alleged leak of the 2026 NEET-UG question paper, while expressing serious concern over recurring lapses in one of the country’s largest competitive examinations.
A Bench comprising Justice PS Narasimha and Justice Alok Aradhe was hearing a batch of petitions filed by various stakeholders seeking corrective measures in the conduct of the National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test (NEET-UG), the nationwide entrance examination for admission to undergraduate medical courses.
During the hearing, the Court stressed that merely identifying procedural gaps would not be sufficient unless accountability was fixed on those responsible for the lapses.
The Bench observed,
“The real problem won’t stop till actual accountability arises,”
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The Court indicated that it would continue supervising developments in the matter for the time being, given the gravity of concerns raised over the integrity of the examination process.
The petitions before the apex court sought a range of reforms in the conduct of NEET-UG examinations, including proposals to shift the examination entirely to a computer-based format in order to minimise the risk of paper leaks and logistical vulnerabilities.
The Bench also questioned the National Testing Agency (NTA), which conducts national-level entrance examinations such as NEET, over how such incidents could continue despite the existence of monitoring and oversight mechanisms.
Drawing a comparison with examinations conducted by the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC), the Court noted that incidents of paper leaks were not reported in UPSC examinations and sought an explanation from the authorities.
The Court asked the NTA,
“How did this failure occur?”
Justice PS Narasimha also highlighted the emotional and psychological impact such incidents have on students and their families, many of whom spend years preparing for highly competitive examinations.
Justice Narasimha remarked during the proceedings,
“It is very traumatic if this is happening. We cannot disappoint our students. It is not merely the student… it is the family too. It is so much of emotion, love, time…”
The issue of examination irregularities had previously come under judicial scrutiny, and the Supreme Court had earlier constituted a High-Powered Committee (HPC) to recommend reforms aimed at strengthening the examination system and preventing future leaks.
During the present hearing, the Court sought details regarding the implementation of those recommendations. It questioned Dr. K. Radhakrishnan, former Chairman of the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), who had earlier served on the High-Powered Committee and was later appointed to the Monitoring Committee overseeing implementation of the recommendations.
The Court noted that the Director of the NTA had filed an affidavit outlining the steps taken to implement the recommendations of the High-Powered Committee. Dr. Radhakrishnan had also submitted a separate affidavit regarding the status of implementation.
However, the Bench observed that if a leak had still occurred despite the existence of a high-level expert committee and monitoring systems, then either the recommendations were inadequate or there had been shortcomings in their execution.
Justice Narasimha observed,
“… despite a high-powered committee if this incident happened, (then) there is something wrong with the original recommendation, or there is no proper implementation,”
Responding to the Court’s queries, Dr. Radhakrishnan informed the Bench that the High-Powered Committee had made more than 100 recommendations, including around 60 short-term measures specifically designed for the 2025-26 examination cycle.
According to him, most of these recommendations had already been implemented, while the remaining measures were in the process of being executed.
He told the Court,
“In 2025 the NEET-UG was conducted satisfactorily. There were incidents of power failures in some centres… otherwise recommendations were implemented and worked,”
When the Bench pressed further on how the leak allegedly occurred despite these safeguards, Dr. Radhakrishnan pointed to vulnerabilities at the stage of question paper preparation and indicated that the identified gap had now been addressed.
The Court subsequently directed the Central government to file a detailed affidavit on the matter and posted the case for further hearing in the second week of July.
The controversy surrounding alleged NEET paper leaks has once again intensified the debate over examination security, transparency, and the immense pressure faced by lakhs of medical aspirants across the country. The Supreme Court’s continued monitoring of the matter signals judicial concern over maintaining public confidence in the integrity of national-level examinations.
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