The Supreme Court directed the NTA to file an affidavit on compliance with earlier reform recommendations in the NEET paper leak case
May 25, 2026: Supreme Court of India on Monday criticised the National Testing Agency over the recurring NEET paper leak controversy, observing that it was “sad” the agency had “not learnt a lesson” despite earlier court directions. A bench of Justices PS Narasimha and Alok Aradhe directed the NTA to file an affidavit by Thursday detailing compliance with recommendations made by a court-appointed monitoring committee in 2024.
The apex court said the matter had previously reached the court, following which a monitoring committee was formed and its recommendations accepted. The bench directed the committee headed by former Indian Space Research Organisation chief K Radhakrishnan to explain the steps taken to overhaul the functioning of the NTA. The court also ordered that copies of the petitions be served to Tushar Mehta and other parties involved.
The plea was filed by the Federation of All India Medical Association, which sought restructuring or replacement of the NTA with an autonomous body to conduct the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test. The association argued that recurring paper leaks were directly affecting the rights of over 22.7 lakh students. It also requested the formation of a high-powered monitoring committee comprising a retired Supreme Court judge, a cybersecurity expert and a forensic scientist. The NEET-UG examination conducted on May 3 was cancelled on May 12 amid allegations of paper leaks, which are currently under investigation by the Central Bureau of Investigation.