The Court is not content to read affidavits about exam reform. In an unusual step, the judges said they would themselves go to the National Testing Agency’s office and see, with their own eyes, whether the promised system exists, whether it works, and whether it is staffed by permanent people rather than officers on temporary deputation. Alongside that, the Court pressed the point that has run through this litigation: a committee report is not reform. The recommendations of the expert panel now at work must, it said, translate into effective changes on the ground, not stop at paper.
New Delhi: The Supreme Court has said that its judges will visit the headquarters of the National Testing Agency (NTA) to examine whether a functioning examination system is in place, and has sought a progress report from the task force led by Infosys co-founder Nandan Nilekani that was constituted to strengthen and protect the integrity of competitive examinations in India.
A Bench of Justice PS Narasimha and Justice Alok Aradhe, hearing a batch of petitions arising from the NEET question-paper leaks, directed that an affidavit on the progress of the reform committee be filed within two weeks.
An inspection in person
The most striking feature of the hearing was the Court’s decision to inspect the NTA’s office itself. Told that the agency now has a separate, permanent space near Minto Road, Justice Narasimha said the judges would go and see the setup for themselves:
“We will come there one day, myself and my brother… We’ll come and see whether the system is actually in place, whether it is working or not working, manpower, all these things.”
The Court added that the composition of the NTA’s workforce mattered: at least half its staff, it observed, should be permanent, and not everyone should be on deputation from other departments. The Bench also flagged the agency’s need to collaborate with other institutions, the handling of data, and the question of whether the NTA required statutory backing.
Recommendations must not stop at paper
Solicitor General Tushar Mehta submitted that the Nilekani committee had conducted exhaustive consultations and might submit its report by the end of September. The Court’s response went to the concern at the heart of the case, that reform reports have a way of being filed and forgotten:
“Progress is one matter. What are the suggestions made? Most important is institutionalisation of it… We had the Radhakrishnan Committee. So what we have today is only a committee report. Correct? Full stop. It must progress further. Consideration of the recommendations and its implementation is the most important part.”
The Court stressed that the recommendations should not remain limited to paper but must translate into effective changes on the ground, and underlined the importance of considering the advice of domain experts in reforming the examination system. The Solicitor General submitted that the government remained committed and would implement the recommendations.
Directing the Joint Secretary, Department of Personnel and Training, coordinating with the High-Powered Committee, to file an affidavit on the progress made, the Court listed the matter after three weeks, indicating that it would assess the direction of reform once that affidavit was on record.
The petitions
The Court is hearing a batch of petitions filed in the wake of this year’s NEET question-paper leaks. One, by the Federation of All India Medical Association, seeks the replacement or restructuring of the NTA and, among other prayers, the digital locking of question papers, a transition to a Computer-Based Test model, and the publication of centre-wise results to detect anomalies. Another, by the United Doctors Front, seeks the establishment of a statutory national testing body with better oversight and direct parliamentary accountability. A further plea, filed by a group including a Member of Parliament, a social activist and medical-body representatives, seeks the shift of NEET-UG to a computer-based format and the replacement of the NTA with a new independent examination authority.
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Why it matters
The hearing marks a shift from adjudication to hands-on supervision. Rather than deciding a discrete legal question and moving on, the Court has taken on the role of monitoring whether a national institution is actually being fixed, and its stated intention to physically inspect the NTA’s premises is an unusually direct expression of that role. The message is that assurances on affidavit will be checked against reality, and that the Court intends to see for itself whether the reform exists in bricks, systems and permanent staff, or only in submissions.
The Court’s insistence on institutionalisation is the substantive thread. Its reference to the earlier Radhakrishnan Committee, whose report, it noted, has so far amounted to just that, a report, captures a familiar pattern in Indian governance, where high-powered committees produce recommendations that are then not implemented. By demanding progress on implementation, by asking whether the NTA needs statutory backing, and by pressing for permanent rather than deputed staff, the Court is trying to ensure that the response to the NEET crisis becomes a durable structural change rather than another document. Whether the examination body should be replaced, restructured, put on a statutory footing or shifted to a computer-based model are the larger questions the pending petitions raise, and they remain open.
For the lakhs of students who sit NEET and other national examinations, the stakes are concrete: the integrity of these tests determines admissions, careers and public confidence in merit-based selection, and a paper leak strikes at all three. The Court’s continued supervision, and its readiness to walk into the agency’s office, reflects how seriously it regards that integrity. Nothing final has been decided; the government’s reform is a work in progress, the expert report is awaited, and the Court will take stock once the promised affidavit is filed.
Case: Batch of petitions concerning reform of the National Testing Agency and the integrity of competitive examinations, arising from the NEET question-paper leaks
Bench: Justice PS Narasimha and Justice Alok Aradhe, Supreme Court of India
Appearing: Solicitor General Tushar Mehta for the Union
Status: Progress-report affidavit from the High-Powered Committee sought within two weeks; matter listed after three weeks. Court to physically inspect the NTA headquarters. Reforms and the pending prayers to replace or restructure the NTA remain under consideration.