The Supreme Court on Monday said that the National Testing Agency (NTA) had not learnt from the earlier NEET paper leak. The court sought responses from the Centre, the NTA, and the CBI on pleas requesting the replacement of the NTA with a robust and autonomous body to conduct the medical entrance examination.

It remarked, "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."

A bench comprising Justices PS Narasimha and Alok Aradhe issued notice on a plea filed by the Federation of All India Medical Association (FAIMA). The bench said all similar matters would be tagged together and directed the NTA to file an affidavit by Thursday on compliance with the court's directions issued in 2024. The bench also directed that copies of the petitions be served on Solicitor General Tushar Mehta and other parties.

The court further directed the Centre-appointed committee led by former Indian Space Research Organisation chief K Radhakrishnan, which was set up to overhaul the functioning of the NTA, to detail the steps taken for compliance with its directions. FAIMA has urged the court to order the restructuring or replacement of the NTA with a robust and autonomous system to conduct NEET-UG, alleging a "direct assault" on the fundamental rights of more than 22.7 lakh students due to recurring paper leaks.

The medical body has also sought the appointment of a high-powered monitoring committee to oversee the re-examination until a fresh body is formally constituted. It proposed that the committee be headed by a retired Supreme Court judge and include a cybersecurity expert and a forensic scientist to ensure no further leaks occur. The undergraduate National Eligibility cum Entrance Test held by the NTA on May 3 for admission to medical education programmes was cancelled on May 12 amid allegations of a paper leak, which are under investigation by the CBI.

Separately, a Delhi court on Monday sent Pune-based physics lecturer Manisha Sanjay Havaldar to six days of CBI custody in the NEET paper leak case. Special Judge Ajay Gupta allowed the agency's plea for custodial interrogation. The CBI said Havaldar, who worked as a translator for NEET-UG, had circulated the physics questions that came for translation along with other accused. She was arrested on May 22 and produced before the court on transit remand. According to the CBI, Havaldar, employed with Seth Hiralal Saraf Prashala in Pune, was a key accused and the source of the leak of NEET-UG 2026 physics questions.

Published on: May 25, 2026 3:25 PM IST