The Supreme Court has recently addressed multiple petitions seeking to influence the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET) Undergraduate counselling process for 2025, ultimately refusing to halt or stay the ongoing procedures. These decisions came amidst concerns ranging from alleged answer key errors to disruptions during the exam.
On July 4, 2025, the Supreme Court dismissed a petition seeking to stay the NEET-UG 2025 counselling based on an alleged error in the answer key released by the National Testing Agency (NTA). The petitioner, who scored 565 marks in the NEET-UG 2025 examination, securing an all-India rank of 6,783, claimed to have approached the NTA to highlight the error after the release of the provisional answer key. The court observed that it would not interfere with a national-level examination affecting the careers of thousands of students. It also noted that a similar challenge to the NEET-UG answer key had been rejected the previous day and that the current case represented an individual grievance rather than a widespread issue. The court stated, "We cannot tackle individual examinations. We need to tackle larger reforms".
In another instance, on July 23, 2025, the Supreme Court declined to grant provisional permission for appearing in the NEET-UG-2025 counselling to two candidates from Madhya Pradesh who faced power outages during their examinations. Justices P S Narasimha and A S Chandurkar scheduled a further hearing for July 25,. The students are challenging a July 14 order by the Madhya Pradesh High Court, which had refused to order a re-test for them. The counsel for the petitioners argued that a notification for counselling had been issued and sought provisional permission for their clients to participate. Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, representing the NTA, contended that allowing re-examinations for a few students could affect lakhs of others. The bench declined to issue interim directions.
The power outages during the NEET-UG 2025 examination affected multiple test centers across Indore and Ujjain, leaving 75 students unable to register for state-level counselling. A parent of an affected candidate described his son's distress due to the power outage, which led him to attempt fewer questions. The case has undergone a complex legal journey, with a single judge from the Madhya Pradesh High Court initially allowing a re-test, but this was later overturned by a division bench.
Earlier, on June 11, 2024, the Supreme Court addressed a petition seeking cancellation of the NEET-UG 2024 exam over alleged paper leaks and irregularities. While issuing a notice to the NTA, the court refused to stay the counselling process for admissions to medical colleges and scheduled the matter for further consideration on July 8, 2024. The court has emphasized the need to balance addressing concerns with maintaining the admission process's progress. The NTA informed the Supreme Court on June 13, 2024, that scorecards of 1,563 candidates who received "grace marks" would be cancelled, offering them the option to retake the exam.
These decisions highlight the Supreme Court's cautious approach to intervening in the NEET counselling process, considering the large number of students involved and the potential disruption to the admission cycle. While individual grievances and concerns about irregularities are acknowledged, the court has generally prioritized the smooth continuation of the counselling process.
