The judges emphasized that conducting the exam in two shifts leads to arbitrariness and unfairness, as not all students are assessed under the same conditions.
NEW DELHI: 30th May: The Supreme Court observed that since “The examination for NEET PG is on 15th June”, the NBE still has enough time to conduct the exam in a single shift instead of two.
The judges emphasized that conducting the exam in two shifts leads to arbitrariness and unfairness, as not all students are assessed under the same conditions.
The matter was heard by a three-judge bench of the Supreme Court comprising Hon’ble Mr. Justice Vikram Nath, Hon’ble Mr. Justice Sanjay Kumar, and Hon’ble Mr. Justice N.V. Anjaria.
Today’s Hearing
They stressed that with the technology and resources available across the country, it is feasible to arrange for a single-shift examination, ensuring a level playing field for all aspirants.
Justice Vikram Nath, while reading the order, summarized the challenge: “2 shift exam challenged as both different paper and can’t be same or similar. Last year also it was held and normalization was done. So having it 1 shift is the plea.”
The bench added that they “are not ready to accept that in entire country and given technology we have that NBE is not able to find enough centres in country. 2 shift creates arbitrariness and all student aren’t at same level.”
Further, the court observed: “Any 2 paper can have same level of difficulty. Normalization is applied only in exceptional cases and not routine manner.”
Finally, the bench pointed out that since “The examination for NEET PG is on 15th June”, there is “time to hold in 1 shift.”
The court remarked that “there is time to hold in 1 shift”, suggesting that the NBE should reconsider its decision in the interest of fairness and transparency
Appearing for the petitioner, the lawyer explained, “This challenges the decision of the National Board of Examinations. Now the decision that is taken by NBE is for NEET PG. Mylord knows NEET PG is for taking the streams, whether you want to take gynaecology, whatever. So Milord, this decision is that you conduct the exam not in one shift but 2 shifts.”
Emphasising the impact of the shift-wise examination on rankings, the petitioner added, “It is a rank-based exam, so even one mark will make a difference.”
Hearing this, Justice Vikram Nath raised a crucial question to the examination board, asking, “Why you conduct exam in 2 shifts?”
Senior Advocate Maninder Acharya, representing the NBE, defended the decision. She explained that the examination is conducted online and the changes were made due to serious concerns that emerged last year, especially related to cheating and fraud during the NEET-UG examination.
She told the court, “These examinations are held online and your lordship knows in 2024, because of the malpractices and the fraudulent interventions of the wrong elements, the UG examination had to be canceled. Same was thereafter we sat together and we have, there are very limited centers.”
Ms. Acharya further clarified the board’s steps to ensure fairness and security during the NEET PG exam.
She said, “We have taken out all the private centers and only the centers which will be safe, effective, will have the required infrastructure for holding the online examinations, those centers have been taken into consideration for this examination and since they are limited and the number of student every year mylord is increasing.”
She also pointed out that this is a common practice for large-scale exams: “My lord, all important examinations in which a large number of candidates appear are held this way. There were really lot of malpractices because of which the examination had to be cancelled last year in the undergraduate.”
She urged the bench not to halt the process at this stage, saying, “At this stage, if your lordship stays,” then “the whole session will be interrupted. Because at the last moment, Mylord, we cannot make changes.”
On the other hand, the petitioner’s lawyer, representing NEET PG aspirants, argued that the current system could result in unfair rankings.
He pointed out, “There is 3 hour gap between 2 shifts. TCS is allocating centres.”
He further stated that “UG with so many candidates is conducted in one session.”
Defending the shift-based format, Acharya replied, “Only a few candidates have problem out of 2.5 lakh students.”
But Justice Vikram Nath questioned the transparency of the whole process, remarking, “This is complete opaque process.”
Previous Hearing
On 26th May, The Supreme Court agreed to hear a petition challenging the National Board of Examination’s decision to conduct the NEET-PG 2025 exam in two shifts.
As per the official schedule, the National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test for Postgraduate courses (NEET-PG) 2025 is set to take place on June 15, in two shifts on a computer-based testing platform. The results are expected to be announced by July 15.
Chief Justice of India (CJI BR Gavai) gave this assurance, raising hopes that students might finally get justice.
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A bench led by Chief Justice B.R. Gavai and Justice Augustine George Masih took note of the lawyer’s submissions and assured that the petition will be listed for hearing soon.
The petition challenged a notification released by the NBEMS on April 16, which officially announced that NEET-PG 2025 will be conducted in two shifts on June 15.
Earlier, on May 23, the same bench had stated that the matter would be taken up for hearing the following week. However, since it was not listed, the lawyer raised the issue again on Monday, prompting the court to give a fresh assurance for an early hearing.
During a brief hearing, the petitioners’ lawyer urged the bench to speed up the hearing, as the admit cards for NEET PG are expected to be released on June 2, 2025.
Lawyer: “My Lords, you had said this matter would be listed today or this week. It’s very urgent as the admit cards are being issued on June 2. We have challenged the two-shift exam policy. Could it be listed for tomorrow?”
Responding to this, CJI BR Gavai said, “the matter will be listed soon.” This decision from the top court has given hope to students that there might be a fair solution before the exam.
Students of NEET PG have filed multiple petitions in the Supreme Court.
Their key issues are:
Currently, NEET PG is held in two different shifts. Because of this, the results are declared based on a normalization process, which adjusts scores to account for the different difficulty levels of the shifts. But students argue that this is unfair and non-transparent.
They say it creates confusion and makes it harder to understand how scores are calculated. Many believe that conducting the exam in one shift would be the most fair and transparent way to handle this.
Students also want the NBEMS (National Board of Examinations in Medical Sciences) to release the question papers and answer keys after the exam. This will help them understand how they performed and whether they answered correctly.
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As the petition explains, releasing the question paper and key allows for better self-assessment. Students can learn from their mistakes and know exactly where they stand. In fact, this demand was formally raised in September last year through a petition in the Supreme Court.
The petition clearly said:
“They demanded that the exam conducting agency NBEMS release the question paper and the answer key of the students.”
And added:
“This will help the students to get a correct idea of their result and they will be able to prepare better.”
ALSO READ: NEET PG: Supreme Court to Hear Petitions Challenging Normalisation Process on May 22
During the hearing, the petitioner’s lawyer informed the court:
“The admit card is going to be issued on June 2, so the hearing should be done soon.”
Listening to this, Chief Justice BR Gavai assured:
“The matter will be listed soon.”
This statement has now raised expectations among NEET PG aspirants that their concerns will be addressed quickly.
Case Name: Dr. ADITI & ORS v. NATIONAL BOARD OF EXAMINATION IN MEDICAL SCIENCES & ORS| DIARY NO. – 22918/2025
View Order
