NEET PG 2025 Transparency Plea: SC to review policy on publication of answer keys; bench seeks NBE response

The Supreme Court has issued a significant update in the ongoing National Eligibility Entrance Test - Postgraduate (NEET PG) transparency case, directing the National Board of Examinations in Medical Sciences (NBEMS) to clarify its policy on publishing answer keys for the NEET PG 2025 examination. The Court, however, made it clear that it would not look into individual complaints alleging discrepancies in the conduct of the examination.

The Supreme Court earlier directed NBEMS to submit an affidavit within two weeks, clarifying whether it has a formal policy on disclosing answer keys and related exam materials. The order follows petitions from NEET PG candidates citing concerns over limited transparency.

A bench of Justice PS Narasimha and Justice Vipul M Pancholi heard a batch of petitions raising concerns about transparency in the NEET-PG 2025 examination process, including the demand for publication of answer keys.

According to LiveLaw, the bench noted at the outset that similar petitions were earlier heard by a bench comprising Justice JB Pardiwala and Justice KV Viswanathan, which had issued notice on September 26 to the National Board of Examinations (NBE) on pleas seeking disclosure of answer keys.

NBE cites non-disclosure policy for NEET-PG

During the hearing, counsel for the NBE submitted that the board follows a non-disclosure policy, requiring candidates to sign an undertaking preventing them from accessing or circulating answer keys.

The counsel argued that the petitions were being driven by coaching institutes that want access to the question papers, which could, in turn, compromise the examination’s quality and confidentiality, LiveLaw reported.

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Justice Narasimha questioned whether the Court could adopt a similar stance to that taken in the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) case, where the Commission had agreed to provisionally publish answer keys after the preliminary examination.

When asked where the NBE’s policy was officially stated, its counsel initially said it was on the website, but later clarified that the practice was unwritten and followed by convention.

Bench seeks NBE’s policy affidavit on transparency

The bench directed the NBE to file an affidavit outlining its policy and to clearly state its position on the issue. The Court reiterated that it would not address individual allegations about discrepancies in the NEET-PG 2025 examination.

Earlier on April 29, the Supreme Court had directed the publication of raw scores, answer keys, and normalisation formulae in another examination-related matter to promote transparency. On May 30, the Court had also ordered the conduct of NEET-PG 2025 in a single shift while keeping issues concerning transparency pending for future consideration.