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Society & Culture Around Town Book Excerpts Vigyapanti The Dating Story

More Judiciary Education YourTurn Work With Us Campus Voice

When I was Karnataka CM, we introduced CET. Why can’t NEET recreate its success—Veerappa Moily

It is quite clear that fraud has been committed in the NEET system. It needs major surgery. The ultimate result will be inferior quality of doctors.

When NEET was proposed in 2010, experts argued that a single national-level entrance test for medical courses would uphold merit and improve the quality of education. However, the experience in the past few years has shown that it has not been the case at all.  The NEET system ran into trouble as soon as it was introduced, with several states—Tamil Nadu, West Bengal, Gujarat, Andhra Pradesh, and Karnataka—opposing the change from the combination of state-administered entrance tests.

Over two million candidates across thousands of examination centres appeared for the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (Undergraduate) (NEET-UG) in May 2026, the medical entrance examination conducted by the National Testing Agency (NTA). Within days of the examination, reports emerged that the process may have been compromised, with allegations that question papers had been leaked prior to the test, raising concerns about the integrity of the examination.

Early findings prompted scrutiny and raised concerns regarding a possible breach of confidentiality, though the full extent of the leak remained subject to investigation. Upon reviewing the findings, the NTA cancelled the NEET-UG exam, announced a re-examination, and waived additional fees while retaining candidate registrations.

The Supreme Court verdict

The one-country, one-test, NEET for medical admissions was initially proposed to take place from 2012 onwards. More than 80 cases opposing the undergraduate NEET were filed; two of these by state governments and the rest by private and minority institutes. On 18 July 2013, in a 2-1 split verdict on the validity of the NEET, a bench led by former Chief Justice Altamas Kabir held that the MCI and the Dental Council of India lacked legal authority to control admissions to MBBS, BDS and postgraduate courses. This view was shared by Justice Vikramjit Sen.

The 2024 NEET discrepancies were a big blow. The NEET (UG) examination was conducted by the NTA on 5 May at 4750 centres in 571 cities (including 14 cities abroad) for more than 24 lakh candidates. It was marred by allegations of question paper leaks.

The Supreme Court on 18 June made it clear to the Centre and the National Testing Agency (NTA) that it did not want “even .001 per cent negligence” on the part of anyone in the conduct of the undergraduate National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test (NEET-UG) 2024 to be spared.

The court said that the NTA, which holds the exam for medical admissions in the country, should be able to take a firm stand and, if necessary, own up to having made mistakes if there were any made while holding the NEET-UG 2024.

“You (NTA) must stand firm. If there is a mistake, say ‘yes, there is a mistake. This is the action we are going to take’. At least that will inspire confidence in your performance,” Justice Bhatti said, addressing advocate Kanu Agrawal, appearing for the NTA and the Union government. Justice Nath agreed with his companion judge, remarking orally that the allegations on NEET were “very serious”.

Justice Bhatti told the Centre and NTA that they should not treat the petitions filed by NEET aspirants and academicians as adversarial.

“Imagine a person who has played fraud on the system becoming a doctor. That would be deleterious to society,” Justice Bhatti pointed out to the government and the NEET agency.

Justice Bhatti highlighted the honest effort put in by lakhs of children to prepare for NEET exam. Cheating thwarted honest effort and ambition. He further emphasised, “We all know the labour children put in, especially for this exam.”

With the exam coming under Supreme Court scanner, the NTA had on 13 June agreed to withdraw and cancel the........

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