Supreme Court Refuses Plea To Hold NEET-UG Retest In CBT Mode

The Supreme Court on Monday refused to entertain a plea seeking direction to conduct the NEET-UG 2026 re-test in computer-based test (CBT) mode , observing that the National Testing Agency (NTA) is already dealing with multiple operational challenges.

A bench comprising Justices P S Narasimha and Aravind Kumar posted the matter for hearing on July 27 , declining to order any immediate change in the examination format. The plea was filed by Sudhakar Singh , a Member of Parliament from the RJD, along with others.

During the hearing, the petitioners, represented by advocate Satyam Singh Rajput, stated that they were pressing only one prayer — that the re-test scheduled for June 21 be conducted in CBT mode instead of the existing pen-and-paper format . However, the bench was not inclined to intervene.

“There is no question of conducting the re-examination in CBT mode. They (the NTA) are already having too many problems,” the bench observed, adding that the matter had already been considered in earlier proceedings.

The court further noted that the examination had already been cancelled and was now being re-conducted, indicating that changing the mode at this stage would add to administrative complexity. “Either we dismiss this petition now or after the vacation,” the bench remarked during the hearing.

The issue arose after the National Testing Agency cancelled the NEET-UG exam held on May 3 following allegations of a question paper leak . The matter is currently under investigation by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) , while the re-examination has been scheduled for June 21.

The Supreme Court had earlier, on May 29, observed that it should not disappoint students but also emphasised the need for “actual accountability” in the examination system. The Union government, through Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, informed the court that it was closely monitoring the situation and that Prime Minister Narendra Modi was personally overseeing efforts to ensure there were no procedural lapses.

The NTA has also informed the court that it plans to transition NEET-UG to a CBT-based format from next year , after consultations with the Centre. Earlier, the top court had also flagged concerns over repeated paper leak incidents and stressed the need for stronger safeguards and institutional reform in the conduct of national-level entrance examinations.