SC Agrees To Hear Plea Challenging Proposed NEET-PG 2025 Exam In 2 Shifts

Supreme Court

The Supreme Court on Monday agreed to hear a petition challenging the National Board of Examination’s (NBE) decision to conduct the NEET-PG 2025 exam in two shifts.

Exam Scheduled For June 15

The National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test for Postgraduate courses (NEET-PG) is scheduled to take place on June 15, conducted in two computer-based shifts. Results are expected by July 15.

The petition argues that holding the exam in multiple shifts may lead to inconsistencies in difficulty levels, potentially affecting fairness among candidates.

CJI Assures Early Listing

A bench led by Chief Justice B R Gavai and Justice Augustine George Masih took note of the urgent nature of the plea. When the petitioner’s counsel raised concerns about the delay in listing the matter, the CJI assured, “It will be listed in a day or two.”

The petitioner’s lawyer pointed out that despite the bench stating on May 23 that the matter would be heard the following week, it was still pending. Highlighting the urgency, the lawyer said, “The bench said it would list the matter this week. It is extremely urgent. The admit cards will be issued on June 2.”

Concerns Over Exam Fairness

The plea, filed by Aditi and others, challenges the NBE’s two-shift format on the grounds that it creates unequal conditions for candidates. It argues that variation in question paper difficulty could lead to unfair outcomes, and urges the court to direct the NBE to hold the exam in a single shift to ensure a “just, fair, reasonable and equitable” competitive environment.

Previous Court Action

On May 5, the apex court had sought responses from the National Board of Examination, National Medical Commission, and the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare regarding the issue.

This case comes on the heels of a recent Supreme Court verdict aimed at improving transparency in NEET-PG counselling. That ruling included directions to publish raw scores, answer keys, and the normalisation formula, and took strong steps against seat-blocking practices.