Supreme Court slams NTA over NEET-UG Paper leak, demands accountability on reform recommendations

NEW DELHI: Criticising the National Testing Agency (NTA) for failing to learn from past institutional lapses, the Supreme Court noted that the agency repeated its mistakes despite a similar NEET-UG question paper leak occurring two years ago. The apex court has issued formal notices to both the NTA and the Central Government regarding the ongoing crisis.
A bench comprising Justices PS Narasimha and Alok Aradhe expressed profound disappointment over the recurring leaks, noting that the involvement of educators was entirely unexpected. The bench directed the NTA to submit a compliance report by Friday, detailing which recommendations from the high-powered reform committee have been put into practice.
Furthermore, Dr. K. Radhakrishnan, former ISRO Chairman and head of the high-powered committee formed after the 2024 leak, has been directed to file an affidavit within three days. The affidavit must outline the specific measures taken to implement the committee's report, which notably recommended transitioning the medical entrance exam to a computer-based testing format.

The Supreme Court indicated that it will not disrupt the upcoming re-examination scheduled for June 21. The court's observations came during the hearing of a batch of Public Interest Litigations (PILs), including one filed by the United Doctors Front. The petitioners are seeking the disqualification of the NTA from organising the exam, the immediate rollout of computer-based testing for the current academic year, and a court-monitored probe into the security breach.

In a concurrent legal development, the Rouse Avenue Court in Delhi remanded an arrested teacher, Manisha Sanjay Havaldar, to six days of Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) custody. Investigations revealed that Manisha had been entrusted with translating the Physics section of the NEET-UG question paper into Marathi when the breach occurred.