SC on NEET paper leak row: 'Sad they have not learnt their lessons'

Amid the ongoing controversy surrounding the 2026 NEET-UG paper leak, the Supreme Court on Monday (May 25) said "it is sad that they have not learnt their lessons" and sought responses from the Centre, the National Testing Agency (NTA) and the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on petitions seeking the replacement of the testing agency and the creation of an autonomous body to conduct the medical entrance examination.

The matter comes in the backdrop of the recent NEET paper leak row, which triggered widespread outrage and eventually led to the cancellation of the examination. The re-test for affected candidates is scheduled to be held on June 21.

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A Bench comprising Justice PS Narasimha and Justice Ahsanuddin Amanullah asked the petitioners to serve copies of the pleas to Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, who appeared for the Centre.

‘Yet to learn their lessons’

"It's sad that they have not learnt their lessons. The matter travelled to this court earlier also. There was a committee, a monitoring committee, which made some recommendations, and they were accepted. We want NTA to file an affidavit on the steps taken for compliance of recommendations suggested by the committee,” the Bench said.

Also read: NEET-UG 2026: How NTA, the agency built to fix exams, kept breaking them

The top court, which issued notice on a plea filed by the Federation of All India Medical Association (FAIMA), through lawyer Tanvi Dubey, said it is tagging all the similar matters together.

NTA restructuring

It directed the Centre-appointed committee, led by former Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) chief K Radhakrishnan, to overhaul the NTA's functioning and detail the steps taken to comply with its directions.

The medical body has urged the top court for direct restructuring or replacement of NTA with a robust and autonomous system to conduct NEET-UG, citing a "direct assault" on the fundamental rights of over 22.7 lakh students through recurring paper leaks.

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It has also sought a direction to appoint a high-powered monitoring committee until a fresh body is formally constituted to oversee the re-examination. It further said the committee should comprise a retired Supreme Court judge as the chair, along with a cybersecurity expert and a forensic scientist, to ensure that no further leaks occur.

CBI probe

Following the cancellation of the exam, the case is now being probed by the CBI.

On Monday, the CBI sought six days of police custody for an accused allegedly empanelled by the NTA as a physics translator. Her counsel opposed the request, claiming she had cooperated with the investigation. The court reserved its remand order till 12:30 pm.

Also read: NEET-UG 2026 paper leak: Whistleblower claims pre-exam PDFs matched questions

So far, the CBI has arrested more than 10 individuals in connection with the case, including a Pune-based NTA expert and a chemistry lecturer who allegedly ran secret coaching sessions to leak physics and biology questions to candidates.