Supreme Court Queries NBE on NEET PG 2024 Transparency

The Supreme Court has directed the National Board of Examination to respond to a petition alleging transparency issues in the NEET PG 2024 exams. Petitioners claim last-minute changes and denied access to key exam documents violated their rights, seeking judicial intervention for transparency and fairness.

The Supreme Court on Friday directed the National Board of Examination (NBE) to respond to a petition alleging transparency issues in the NEET PG 2024 examinations. The bench led by Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud and comprising Justices JB Pardiwala and Manoj Misra, mandated the Centre to furnish a reply, setting the next hearing for September 27.

Advocates Vibha Makhija and Parul Shukla, representing the petitioning students, argued that the examination's lack of transparency stems from last-minute amendments to information bulletins by examination agencies. According to the petition, the absence of essential documents—such as question papers, response sheets, and answer keys—has left students unable to verify their performance accurately, receiving only scorecards with inconsistent question attempt counts.

The petition contends this flaw undermines the integrity of the examination process, highlighting unaddressed transparency issues and the arbitrary power vested in the NBE. It states that the refusal to release detailed response data infringes on the student's right to information and precludes them from challenging discrepancies. The students, qualified doctors from accredited institutions, participated in the NEET PG on August 11, seeking further specialization. They criticized the current system under Article 14 of the Constitution, citing arbitrary normalization procedures and unfair exam splits affecting result accuracy.

(With inputs from agencies.)