For the second time this week, the Supreme Court on Friday (June 19, 2026) declined to grant an urgent hearing to a petition challenging the National Testing Agency’s (NTA) decision to conduct the NEET-UG 2026 examination once again for nearly 22 lakh candidates.

The medical entrance examination, originally held on May 3, was cancelled nationwide on May 12 following allegations of a question paper leak. The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) subsequently launched a probe, and a retest has been scheduled for June 21.

“We will not entertain any request for urgent hearing,” a Bench headed by Chief Justice of India Surya Kant said, while hearing a plea by 11 aspirants who claimed to be experiencing heightened stress in the wake of allegations about the retest, and the limited time available for preparation.

‘Severe stress’

Appearing for the petitioners, advocate Adeel Ahmed clarified that the students were not opposed to the retest itself, but were deeply concerned by the recent developments.

“Candidates are under severe stress and anxiety. There are rumours of a paper leak affecting the integrity of the re-NEET exam as well,” he submitted, adding that students had also expressed concerns over the limited preparation time available before the June 21 examination.

The Chief Justice refused to entertain the petition, observing that the petition would come for hearing before a Bench led by Justice P.S. Narasimha, which is already hearing a batch of cases related to the NEET examination. However, Justice Narasimha’s Bench is scheduled to hear the case only after the Supreme Court resumes regular sittings on July 13, effectively rendering the plea infructuous.

“We know how judicial platforms are being used,” the Chief Justice said.

‘Very traumatic’

The petition contended that candidates were already grappling with considerable stress following the NTA’s abrupt decision to cancel the examination conducted on May 3. It argued that the decision to hold a fresh test within a short span of time had heightened uncertainty and anxiety among aspirants.

“Many candidates had already disengaged from their preparation following the completion of the original examination and were subsequently required to restart preparation for an extensive syllabus under conditions of uncertainty and anxiety,” the plea stated.

Earlier, the Bench led by Justice Narasimha had raised serious concerns over the cancellation of the examination following the allegations of paper leak, describing the development as “very traumatic” for students and their families. The court had underscored the need for accountability in the face of lapses affecting lakhs of candidates, and directed the Union government and the NTA to place on record the measures taken to prevent recurrence of such incidents.

Reform recommendations

Following the 2024 NEET-UG paper leak, which had also seen judicial intervention by the top court, the Centre had set up a seven-member committee to review the examination process and suggest remedial measures.

The panel, chaired by former Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) chairman K. Radhakrishnan, had submitted its report in October 2024, recommending a series of reforms to strengthen the NTA’s functioning, improve coordination among States, examination partners, and test-indenting agencies, and establish safeguards to prevent future paper leaks.

To implement the recommendations, the Centre had subsequently constituted another committee in November 2024 and had also enacted the Public Examinations (Prevention of Unfair Means) Act, 2024.