The Supreme Court on Monday issued notices to the CBI and the Centre over two public interest pleas seeking dissolution of the National Testing Agency and a probe by the central investigative agency into the repeated paper leaks afflicting the NTA-conducted NEET-UG.
“It is so sad that they (NTA) haven’t learned their lesson,” the bench of Justice P. Narasimha and Alok Aradhe observed orally while passing several directions on the petitions, one of which asks that a retired apex court judge supervise the CBI probe.
Both petitions were moved on May 13. Since then, the CBI has taken over the investigation into the paper leak involving this year’s NEET-UG, the all-India entrance test for undergraduate medical and dental courses.
The bench directed the NTA to file an affidavit explaining the status of its actions on the recommendations of a “monitoring committee”, formed in November 2024 on the top court’s orders following that year’s NEET-UG paper leak.
It further directed K. Radhakrishnan, who headed the now-disbanded monitoring committee, to file an affidavit indicating the steps the NTA had taken on the high-powered panel’s recommendations on preventing question leaks.
Both affidavits are to be filed within three days, Justice Narasimha said while posting the next hearing to Friday.
“It is so sad that they (NTA) haven’t learned their lesson. This matter had travelled earlier and we had passed orders for (the) constitution of a committee to give recommendations which was accepted…,” the bench observed orally.
Both petitions want the NTA – which holds key all-India entrance tests for medical (NEET), engineering (JEE Main) and general (CUET) courses – replaced with an independent, transparent and accountable body that will function under judicial oversight and use advanced technological safeguards.
Both also want a CBI or special investigation team probe into the recurring paper leaks.
The first plea was a “letter petition” sent to Chief Justice of India Surya Kant jointly by Dr Dhruv Chauhan, national spokesperson for the Indian Medical Association Junior Doctors Network, and social activist Harisharan Devgan.
Filed through advocate Satyam Singh Rajput, the petition flags the repeated paper leaks on the watch of the 2018-constituted NTA, including those in 2021, 2024 and 2026.
It alleges systemic failures associated with the NEET, including “paper leaks, impersonation scams, organised cheating rackets, grace mark controversies, solver gangs, and administrative irregularities”.
This has led to “nationwide outrage, severe mental trauma for parents and students, besides complete erosion of public confidence in the examination system”, it says.
The petition recalls how the JEE Main of 2021, too, was hit by allegations of cheating, impersonation and the manipulation of the exam results.
The second petition is from the Federation of All India Medical Associations, which represents resident doctors’ associations, and has been filed through advocate Tanvi Dubey.
It wants a fresh NEET-UG this year, conducted by a new autonomous body under direct judicial supervision.
Following the cancellation of the May 12 NEET-UG because of the paper leak, the government has announced a fresh exam on June 21 under the NTA.
Among other things, the second petition has urged the apex court to direct the adoption of the latest digital technology and computerised systems to eliminate the risks involved in the storage of physical question papers.
The government has said the NEET-UG will become a computer-based test from next year.