The National Board of Examinations in Medical Sciences (NBEMS) has submitted a firm reply before the Supreme Court, completely denying all allegations over the drastic reduction of NEET-PG 2025-26 qualifying percentiles and clarifying that it only followed government directions.
The National Board of Examinations in Medical Sciences (NBEMS) has filed a short and firm reply before the Supreme Court strongly denying all allegations regarding the drastic reduction of NEET-PG 2025-26 qualifying percentiles.
NBEMS clarified that it has no authority to fix or reduce cut-offs, and it only followed official instructions issued by the Ministry of Health & Family Welfare (MoHFW).
NBEMS opened its reply by stating that all claims made by the petitioners are denied unless specifically admitted. It said the petitioners’ demands are not maintainable and must be rejected.
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The petitioners have asked for multiple directions from the Supreme Court, including the quashing of the impugned decision. Since these are part of the original file, the article keeps the quotes exactly as they appear.
The petition’s key prayer is,
“Issue an appropriate writ, order or direction, including a writ of certiorari, quashing and setting aside the impugned Notice dated 13.01.2026 issued by the National Board of Examinations in Medical Sciences (NBEMS) and all consequential directions, circulars and actions of the Ministry of Health & family Welfare whereby the qualifying cut-off percentile for NEET-PG 2025-26 have been drastically reduced to abnormally low, zero and/or negative levels; and/or”
The petitioners have also argued that extremely low cut-offs violate Article 21 and compromise public health. They demanded that admissions must not proceed under the revised criteria.
Another key quoted section from the prayers,
“Issue an appropriate writ, order or direction declaring that minimum qualifying standards in postgraduate medical education cannot be diluted to the extent of permitting candidates with grossly inadequate or negative performance to become eligible for admission, as such dilution is unconstitutional and directly endangers public health, patient safety, and the fundamental right to life under Article 21 of the Constitution of India; and/or”
NBEMS argued that these prayers are “clearly misconceived”.
NBEMS made it clear that it is only responsible for conducting NEET-PG, evaluating answer sheets, and handing over results to the Medical Counselling Committee (MCC).
It emphasised that:
- The decision to reduce NEET-PG percentiles belonged only to the Ministry of Health & Family Welfare and the National Medical Commission (NMC).
- NBEMS was formally instructed by the Government of India through a communication dated 09.01.2026
- NBEMS published the revised cut-off notice on 13.01.2026 only as a result of this direction.
The core factual development is kept exactly as quoted in the official notice,
“In accordance with the directions of the Ministry of Health & Family Welfare, Govt. of India vide letter No. U-12021/11/2025-MEC (FTS-8363852) dated 09.01.2026, the minimum qualifying percentile cut-off for counseling of the third round of NEET-PG 2025-26 for various categories of candidates has been reduced.”
NBEMS also submitted detailed data showing how many additional candidates became eligible after the reduction.
Total additional eligible candidates after revised cut-off: 95,913
NBEMS argued that since nearly one lakh candidates are now eligible, any order by the Supreme Court would affect those who are not even parties to the case.
NBEMS also placed on record that a similar challenge Sanchit Seth vs NBEMS & Ors was dismissed by the Delhi High Court on 21.01.2026.
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The High Court further referred to the original qualifying criteria, counselling rounds, and the huge number of vacant seats. It also summarised the reasoning behind the cut-off reduction and upheld it.
A crucial part of the Delhi High Court’s reasoning is,
“The above apprehension of the Petitioner is unfounded and not based on any empirical study regarding the availability of candidates against the vacancy for Post Graduate courses. The submissions of the Petitioner that the lowering the eligibility criteria will reduce the meritocracy and can be a threat to safety of the patients and quality of healthcare cannot be accepted…”
The Court also upheld that lowering eligibility criteria does not automatically mean lowering merit during admissions, because actual seat allotment remains merit-based.
NBEMS has asked the Supreme Court to dismiss the petition, arguing that:
- It had no role in the decision to reduce NEET-PG qualifying percentiles
- It only followed binding directions from the Ministry of Health
- Nearly 96,000 new candidates have become eligible and will be affected by any adverse order
- Delhi High Court has already upheld the cut-off reduction after analysing all data
The important matter concerning the transparency issues linked to the NEET PG 2025 examination has been officially listed today before the Supreme Court of India.
The petitions challenging the Union of India and other respondents over issues related to fairness, accuracy and disclosure in the NEET PG 2025 process.
The petitioners will be represented today by a legal team led by Senior Advocate Sikhil Suri. He will be joined by Advocate Satyam Singh Rajput and Advocate-on-Record Neema, who is handling the filing and procedural requirements of the case.
The hearing is expected to bring clarity on the grievances raised about the conduct of NEET PG 2025 and the reliefs sought, including instructions for greater transparency, publication of answer key and other related material.
The developments in the Supreme Court today will play a key role in determining how the Centre and the testing authorities respond to the concerns of thousands of medical aspirants.
Case Title: Harisharan Devgan & Ors vs Union of India & Ors
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