NEET paper leak row Live: Learn from UPSC, which never faced a paper leak, Supreme Court tells NTA

NTA told the Supreme Court it implemented over 100 recommendations to strengthen exam security after the NEET controversy.

But the court appeared unconvinced, stressing that stronger systems alone cannot solve recurring failures unless accountability becomes institutional, not temporary.

As the hearing progresses, the Supreme Court appears to be shifting focus from immediate fixes to long-term institutional reform and accountability. While NTA, the High-Level Committee and the Centre have cited reforms, stronger security and expert involvement, the Court has stressed the need for clear responsibility, institutional memory and permanent safeguards.

It also acknowledged the emotional and academic burden on students and families, noting, “It is traumatic for the students and families… We must rectify this.” The outcome is expected to shape the future governance of NTA and the conduct of national exams like NEET-UG.

SC asks the Union government to file an affidavit in the NEET paper leak case.

The Court took on record the affidavits filed by NTA and Dr Radhakrishnan, while granting the Centre additional time to submit its response. NTA informed the Court that steps are being taken to tighten exam security, and some measures will be implemented in the upcoming re-test.

The Supreme Court observed that institutions must ensure a proper framework, noting that ad hoc measures only create further problems.

The Supreme Court asks whether the mechanism has been institutionalised and stresses the need for institutional memory.

Dr Radhakrishnan said it was earlier identified that there were not enough domain experts. He added that experts involved in IIT-JEE and Kendriya Vidyalaya (KV) examinations have now been brought in to strengthen the system.

Supreme Court: The real problem will not stop until actual accountability is fixed, the Court observed.

Accountability, it said, should not be limited to naming someone as liable, but must clearly define where responsibility lies.

The Court noted that while collective responsibility exists, in situations like this, unless specific responsibility is identified, it only leads to committees and repeated meetings without clarity on who is actually accountable.

Supreme Court: “What was not in the contemplation of the committee that allowed this to occur?”

High-Level Committee Chairman Dr Radhakrishnan said the issue lay in the setting of the question paper. He added that the paper-setting process is now being strengthened, assuring that such lapses will not recur in the re-test.

“Our target is reform,” he said.

The Supreme Court asked the High-Powered Committee chair to explain how the leak occurred in the NEET case.

“If there is monitoring, how did the failure occur?” the Court observed.

The Supreme Court has begun the hearing process of NEET UG 2026.

The controversy intensified after reports claimed that 135 questions from the circulated question bank allegedly matched the actual NEET paper. According to an India Today report, all 90 Biology questions and all 45 Chemistry questions were allegedly found in the circulated material. The report said the questions accounted for nearly 600 marks out of NEET’s total 720 marks.

Officials, however, maintained that investigators were still trying to determine whether it was an unusually accurate “guess paper” or evidence of an actual leak.

What began as murmurs over a suspected “guess paper” has escalated into one of India’s biggest exam controversies. As the Supreme Court hears key pleas in the NEET-UG paper leak case, petitioners are demanding the dissolution of NTA and a CBI probe.

The row triggered nationwide outrage, detentions, political backlash, and a Rajasthan Police investigation, eventually leading to the cancellation of NEET UG 2026 on May 12. Ahead of the June 21 re-exam, the Centre is even considering deploying Indian Air Force aircraft to securely transport question papers. Here's the timeline of events.

The affidavit noted that a meeting held on April 17 proposed an elaborate set of pre-examination, during-examination, and post-examination safeguards to strengthen the conduct of national-level tests. Under the oversight of the High-Level Committee, the NTA said it has already implemented, or is in advanced stages of implementing, a substantial number of recommendations outlined in the HLCE report.

NTA files affidavit before Supreme Court in NEET exam leak case; says it is committed to upholding the integrity, transparency, fairness, and credibility of every examination entrusted to it.

The National Testing Agency (NTA) has extended the deadline for submitting bank account details for the NEET UG 2026 fee refund process. Candidates can now update their details on the official registration portal till June 22, 2026, up to 11:50 pm. The extension comes after the agency noticed that several candidates were yet to complete the process. Earlier, the facility was available from May 22 to May 27.

The Supreme Court on Monday (May 25) pulled up the National Testing Agency (NTA) over the NEET 2026 paper leak controversy, observing that it was disappointing the agency appeared not to have learned from past mistakes. The court sought responses from the Centre, the NTA, and the CBI on pleas demanding the creation of a stronger and more independent body to conduct NEET examinations.

On May 7, the NTA confirmed that it had received input regarding alleged malpractice. The agency said the matter had been flagged from Rajasthan and Uttarakhand. This marked the first official indication that authorities were taking the complaints seriously.