New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Monday refused to direct NTA to conduct re-test of the NEET-UG 2026, scheduled on June 21, through a computer-based test mode instead of the existing pen-and-paper format.
Refusing to intervene, a vacation bench of justices PS Narasimha and Aravind Kumar deferred the matter to July. The development took place during the hearing of a plea filed by RJD MP Sudhakar Singh, seeking various reliefs in relation to the NEET exam.
The petitioner’s counsel on Monday submitted that he was pressing for only the prayer seeking the conduct of the re-examination in CBT mode. However, justice Narasimha, speaking for the bench, observed that the court had already dismissed similar pleas in the past.
The counsel contended that the authorities were proceeding with the examination process on a physical basis for the re-test on June 21. The bench, however, pointed to the practical difficulties faced by the examination authorities. Justice Narasimha remarked that there was “no question” of granting such relief at this stage. The SC judge said the authorities were already dealing with significant challenges.
“You know what kind of problems we are having. The examination was cancelled, it is being reconducted,” Justice Narasimha orally remarked.
Refusing to intervene at this juncture, the bench said it would take up the matter for hearing after vacation. The current plea was filed after the cancellation of the NEET-UG 2026 exam held on May 3 due to widespread paper leak. The plea sought sweeping reforms in the conduct of the NEET-UG, including a direction to conduct the examination through a CBT mode instead of the existing pen-and-paper format.
The petitioner also sought a time-bound roadmap for transitioning NEET-UG to a fully computer-based exam system, including details of infrastructure development, examination centres, cybersecurity safeguards and measures to ensure accessibility for candidates.
