‘We’ll come and see’: On NEET, SC says will inspect NTA office; seeks report on progress by Nandan Nilekani panel

The Supreme Court reportedly sought a progress report from Infosys co-founder Nandan Nilekani-led task force, which was formed to suggest structural reforms in the National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test (NEET).

The alleged irregularities in the NEET examination led to mass protests by the Congress Janata Party in June-July 2026.

The Centre told the Supreme Court that the panel has held exhaustive consultations and is likely to submit its first interim report by the end of this month, news agency PTI reported.

Solicitor General Tushar Mehta told a bench of Justices PS Narasimha and Alok Aradhe that all the suggestions had been placed before the panel, which held consultations with the members of an earlier committee led by former ISRO chairman K Radhakrishnan.

According to Bar and Bench, the Supreme Court remarked that the panel’s recommendations should not remain limited to paper and must translate into some effective changes on the ground.

It told Mehta that the most important thing in the matter is that the government should look into institutionalisation of the entire process to conduct NEET.

“Progress is one matter. What are the suggestions made? Most important is the institutionalisation of it. See, you know what we are a little concerned about. We had the Radhakrishnan Committee. So what we have today is only a committee report. Correct? Full stop. It must progress further. Consideration of the recommendations and it’s implementation is the most important part,” the Bench said, as per the report.

SC tells panel to file affidavit

A Bench of Justices PS Narasimha and Alok Aradhe directed that an affidavit in this regard be filed within two weeks. The bench asked the joint secretary to the Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT), who is assisting the Nilekani panel, to file the affidavit before the court on the steps taken so far.

“We direct the Joint Secretary coordinating with the High-Powered Committee, Joint Secretary, DoPT, who is coordinating with the High-Powered Committee, to file an affidavit indicating the progress made by the Committee. Let the affidavit be filed within another two weeks from today. List after Three weeks,” the Court directed, as per Bar and Bench.

Judges to visit NTA office

Justice Narasimha said he and Justice Aradhe would like to visit the newly-upgraded facility of the National Testing Agency (NTA) to examine the system.

“We’ll come and see whether the system is actually in place, whether it is working or not working, manpower, all these things,” the judge said.

The Supreme Court was said that the NTA now has a separate permanent space near Minto Road. Justice Narasimha said that they would physically visit it and examine whether manpower is in place for a working system, Bar and Bench reported.

Justice Narasimha added that at least half of the staff of NTA should be permanent and not everyone should be on deputation from other departments.

“You must know that permanency of the entire system is key. There should be a permanent setup, permanent staff, permanent verticals. Very less deputation should be there. Only then a permanent structure will come up,” the bench told Mehta.

“Also, your relationship with other working institutions, how you are collaborating with them, how much data is… Whether we need statutory backing,” the Court was quoted as saying.

The case

The Supreme Court was hearing a batch of petitions filed in light of the question paper leaks connected to the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET) this year.

The petitions before the court include one filed by the Federation of All India Medical Association (FAIMA) through advocate Tanvi Dubey, seeking replacement or restructuring of the NTA.

Among other prayers, the plea has sought the “digital locking” of question papers, transition to a Computer-Based Test (CBT) model and publication of centre-wise results to detect anomalies.

The petitioner also filed an application with suggestions on how the shift to CBT could be carried out.

Another petition, filed by the United Doctors Front through advocates Ritu Reniwal and Charu Mathur, seeks the establishment of a statutory national testing body, with better oversight and direct parliamentary accountability.

A separate plea has also been filed by Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) MP Sudhakar Singh, social activist Anubhav Garg, Indian Medical Association national spokesperson Dhruv Chauhan and political leader Harisharan Devgan.

The plea seeks a transition of NEET-UG to a CBT format and the replacement of the NTA with a new independent examination authority, among other prayers.

On August 19, observing that there is a need to institutionalise the reforms in the NTA, the top court directed the Centre to inform it about the steps taken to implement the recommendations of the Radhakrishnan panel and the Nilekani committee.

The Supreme Court was hearing a batch of petitions, including one filed by advocate Tanvi Dubey on behalf of the Federation of All India Medical Association (FAIMA).

(With inputs from Bar and Bench)