Adhocism Is What Has Troubled All These Years: Apex Court Suggests Permanent NEET-UG Reforms, Computer-Based Testing Transition & Cybersecurity Measures

The Supreme Court has made suggestions in a plea concerning structural and administrative reforms for conducting the NEET-UG examination, highlighting the urgent need to transition from temporary measures to permanent institutionalization.

The Court suggested evaluating a shift from paper-based testing to CBT—similar to the JEE model—including the feasibility of multiple-session examinations.

The Bench also emphasized that securing candidate data transfer and end-to-end encryption of question papers until delivery to exam centres are far more critical than physical venue security to prevent leaks.

The Bench of Justice PS Narasimha and Justice Alok Aradhe said, "Adhocism is what has troubled all these years. And you have seen the affidavit filed in which the DG has been appointed, a high-powered committee that we have noted. And there is a recommendation for two joint secretaries to be appointed and additional directors for the verticals. Now, 10 verticals are suggested: one about digital infrastructure, second is about testing, third is about research and development and transparency, international collaborations, security. To these first five, it appears the first five additional director generals were appointed. And as regards six, seven, and eight relating to security, monitoring, and vigilance also. Four more: administration and human resource, finance, and legal—you will have to tell us what is being done."

Solicitor General Tushar Mehta appeared for the Union.

The Court added, "The third thing is about collaboration and experts; you will have to indicate the progress. Now, another very, very important part you were just examining yesterday relates to—it has been divided into three parts: first is pre-examination, second is during the examination, and after examination. First, pre-examination: the testing modalities, the bodies for conducting it—which are the state and district authorities—its composition, and then the district composition is given, but what progress has been made, you will have to indicate."

A writ petition was preferred by the Federation of All India Medical Association (FAIMA) following the systemic collapse and cancellation of the May 3 examination. Previously, the Court has remarked that it is sad that NTA has not learned lessons from the earlier NEET paper leak, as it sought a response from the Centre, NTA and CBI on pleas for the replacement of the testing agency.

During the hearing, Solicitor General Tushar Mehta requested a short accommodation, informing the Bench that significant policy developments were underway and that the executive was considering measures extending beyond the recommendations of the high-level Dr. K. Radhakrishnan Committee.

He assured the Court that the government was treating the issue with utmost priority under the supervision of the highest executive authorities, adopting a non-adversarial stance given the interests of millions of student candidates.

SG Tushar Mehta said, "There I may say, since I myself am aware of it, a similar issue had arisen two years back and we had explained right from the printing press till the student gets the paper, what is the system in place. There must be, there may be some..."

Justice P.S. Narasimha remarked, "Here, this particular year, because of what had happened, you had deployed the Indian Air Force to transport, but that is only an ad hoc situation. There must be something permanent, there must be permanent."

The Court said, "We are indicating to you so that you will take this also into account. With respect, that would be... And another, another very important aspect of it is that they had suggested that there should be a transition to computer-based testing. So, please reflect on that and also tell us. And when it is considered for computer-based testing, it is not the physical method by which you would compute the centres and so on. How the data is to be transferred and how data protection occurs—data protection is more important than the system. That is a very important thing when we shift into this. Therefore, a leak would occur when the data is not safe."

"And another aspect which was indicated is that when somebody goes for the examination, to participate in the examination verification... DigiYatra is indicated by the NTA; whether and how it is to be operated, in which manner to be given to, is also to be indicated. Yet another thing which needs to be answered in the affidavit. Yes. And computer assistance is also another thing which the committee has spoken about. Encryption of the question papers till they are delivered to the concerned centres. This again falls into the same category of if you digitise it, in which manner you will secure it. And post-examination measures are also directed", the Court added.

Justice Narasimha directed the Solicitor General to address specific structural gaps in the forthcoming affidavit. Expressing concern over past adhocism—such as deploying the Indian Air Force for question paper transportation—the Court called for permanent mechanisms governing printing, transport, and domain-expert recruitment.

The Bench specifically inquired into the progress of establishing 10 proposed organizational verticals within the National Testing Agency (NTA), noting that while appointments were made for five verticals including digital infrastructure and testing, updates remained pending for verticals dedicated to administration, finance, legal, and vigilance.

The Court further instructed the government to evaluate transitioning NEET-UG to a Computer-Based Testing (CBT) model, akin to the JEE examination format, while highlighting that data protection and cybersecurity must remain paramount. The Bench warned that digitizing the process without robust end-to-end encryption and secure transmission protocols would expose the examination system to leaks.

Additionally, the Court sought clarifications regarding identity verification systems, including the proposed implementation of DigiYatra by the NTA, and post-examination safeguards to ensure long-term integrity in national competitive tests.

Justice P.S. Narasimha concluded, "We will take that extra mile to ensure that things are taking place."

SG Tushar Mehta replied, "The government is going 10 extra miles. Because children's problems will have to be addressed without any reservation. I can assure your Lordships, from my personal knowledge, it is being monitored, supervised, and everything is being done under the supervision of the highest executive. We cannot let this go on like this."

The medical body has urged the top court for direct restructuring or replacement of NTA with a robust and autonomous system to conduct NEET-UG, citing a "direct assault" on the fundamental rights of over 22.7 lakh students through recurring paper leaks. It has also sought a direction to appoint a high-powered monitoring committee until a fresh body is formally constituted to oversee the re-examination.

It further said the committee should comprise a retired Supreme Court judge as the chair, along with a cybersecurity expert and a forensic scientist, to ensure that no further leaks occur. The undergraduate-level National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET) held on May 3 by the NTA for admissions to medical education programmes was cancelled on May 12 amid allegations of paper leak, which are now being probed by the CBI.

Recently, the Court has also refused to entertain an oral mentioning regarding the ongoing NEET-UG protests at Jantar Mantar, New Delhi, when an advocate sought urgent judicial intervention over alleged police high-handedness and examination irregularities.

Cause Title: Federation Of All India Medical Association v. National Testing Agency and Ors. [W.P.(C) No. 651/2026]