NEET paper leak row: SC refuses urgent hearing of plea seeking computer-based retest

NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Monday refused an urgent hearing on a plea seeking that the NEET UG 2026 re-examination, scheduled for June 21, be conducted in computer-based test (CBT) mode instead of the traditional pen-and-paper format.

The plea was mentioned before a partial-working-day bench comprising Justices PS Narasimha and Arvind Kumar, which declined to take up the matter urgently and said it would be listed after the court vacation.


Responding to the plea, Justice Narasimha said, "They (NTA) are reholding the exam. The kind of pressure they have. We will post after vacation."

Last week, National Testing Agency (NTA) informed apex court that it had introduced a series of security and structural reforms following the paper leak controversy that led to the cancellation of the earlier NEET UG 2026 examination held on May 3.

In an affidavit filed before the apex court, the NTA said the decision to cancel the exam was taken in the interest of students and to maintain public confidence in the examination system.

The agency told the court that a High-Powered Steering Committee had reviewed preparations for the re-examination and recommended stricter safeguards at every stage of the process.

According to the affidavit, the new measures include mandatory CCTV checks at examination centres, preservation of footage for at least 90 days, mock drills, weather contingency plans, verification of power backup systems and emergency medical facilities.

The NTA also said post-examination forensic analysis of CCTV footage would be conducted to detect any suspicious activity or irregularities.

The agency further informed the court that it had undertaken organisational restructuring after the controversy, creating 16 new senior posts, including Director and Joint Director-level positions, and appointing two Additional Director Generals to oversee technology operations and test security.

More than 22 lakh candidates had appeared for NEET UG 2026, which was conducted at 5,432 centres across 552 cities in India and 14 overseas cities before it was cancelled over allegations of a paper leak.

The National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test (NEET-UG) is the country's largest medical entrance examination and is conducted by the National Testing Agency (NTA) for admissions to undergraduate medical courses across India.