The Federation of All India Medical Association on Wednesday filed a petition before the Supreme Court questioning the “systemic failure” of the National Testing Agency in conducting the 2026 undergraduate National Eligibility cum Entrance Test.
The petition sought directions to “replace or fundamentally restructure” the National Testing Agency, which conducts the entrance test for admission to undergraduate medical courses in India, with a “more robust, technologically advanced and autonomous” body.
The petition was filed a day after the National Testing Agency cancelled the 2026 NEET-UG, which was conducted on May 3, following allegations of a paper leak. The National Testing Agency announced that the test will be re-conducted, and the dates will be notified separately.
In its petition, the Federation of All India Medical Association sought the appointment of a high-powered monitoring committee chaired by a retired judge, along with a cybersecurity expert and a forensic scientist, to supervise the re-conduct of the 2026 NEET-UG until a new independent body is formed.
The national body representing doctors and medical students also called for interim oversight by such a committee pending the constitution of the independent body. It asked the court to direct the committee to supervise the re-examination and certify the security of the revised system before it is implemented.
It further sought directions for the digital locking of question papers and a transition to a computer-based test model to eliminate the physical chain-of-custody risks.
It urged the court to issue directions to the Central Bureau of Investigation to file a status report before it within four weeks about the investigation into the alleged paper leak, including details of the network identified, arrests made, persons charged and progress of prosecution.
The matter is yet to be listed for hearing.
The cancellation of the 2026 NEET-UG on Tuesday came as the Rajasthan Special Operations Group began investigating allegations that a “guess paper” circulated before the examination contained questions closely matching the actual paper.
The “guess paper” contained around 410 questions, of which about 120 matched the questions asked in the chemistry section, Rajasthan Police Special Operations Group Additional Director General Vishal Bansal told The Economic Times.
The Central Bureau of Investigation, which is investigating the matter, said that it has arrested five persons in connection with the alleged irregularities and paper leak, ANI reported. Three of them were arrested from Jaipur, one from Gurugram and one from Nashik.
The 2024 examination was also hit by allegations of paper leaks and irregular grace marks, leading to nationwide protests.
Written by Leah Thomas. Edited by Neerad Pandharipande.
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