NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Friday directed the National Board of Examination that it should not hold the NEET PG, scheduled on June 15, in two shifts, as there would not a level playing field for the candidates.
A bench of Justices Vikram Nath, Sanjay Kumar and N V Anjaria said holding the examinations in two shifts would cause arbitrariness and the normalisation process can't be applied in a routine manner.
The court said the question papers in the two shifts can never be of the same difficulty level.
"We are not ready to accept that in the entire country and considering the technological advancements in this country, the examining body could not find enough centres to hold the examination in one shift," the bench said.
The court said the authorities may apply for extension of time if they find that they are not able to identify the centres and conduct the examination on June 15.
Petitioner Aditi and others challenged the conduct of NEET-PG exam in two shifts as the move has the potential for unfairness due to varying difficulty levels between shifts.
The bench noted that last year, the examination was held in two shifts and a process called normalisation was applied. The bench said the examining body should have considered holding the examination in one-shift.
The bench found that primarily two grounds have been taken by the respondents in holding the exam in two shifts: the number of candidates who appear in the examination are too large and it is difficult for the examining body to find secure centres to hold examination in one shift; and the second, if examinations are held in one shift, then unscrupulous elements may get involved and there could be malpractices.
The court also noted that the total number of candidates who have applied for the examination is over 2 Lakh, and the examination is held all over the country and not in one city.
The bench said the court is not ready to accept, against the backdrop of technological advancement, that the examining body could not find enough centres to hold the exam in one shift. "Holding an examination in two shifts creates arbitrariness and also all candidates do not take the examination at the same level," the bench said. The bench said, "Normalisation can be applied in exceptional cases and not in a routine manner year after year”.
The respondents argued that even if the examining body makes an effort to identify more centres, then it may require more time, which may result in the delay holding the examination and the counselling and admissions will also be delayed, which would not be in line with the timeline fixed by the apex court. The apex court refused to accept this argument by the respondents.
"Let the matter be listed on July 14, 2025," the bench said. The respondents' counsel argued that identifying more centres would not be complete till June 15. The bench asked the counsel to apply for extension of time and added, “Identify centres and pay for it, if you do not want to spend money that is a different thing”.
The bench made it clear if the concerned authorities seek more time, they should ask for it, and file an affidavit and an application. “The court will consider your request. It would be open for respondents to apply for extension of time, if they find that they are not able to identify the required number of centres,” the bench said.
The bench told the authorities, "The easy way out is to burn midnight oil and try to find the centres. You did it last year and by now you should have come up with a solution. How is it a fair process to have two shifts?”.
The bench also asked them, "Why did you not look for enough centres and identify them to hold the exam in one shift”.
The National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test for Postgraduate courses (NEET-PG), 2025, is scheduled to be conducted on June 15, in two shifts on a computer-based platform. Its results will be declared by July 15.
Earlier on May 5, the court had sought a response from the NBE, National Medical Council (NMC), and the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare on the said plea.
The court had on May 22 in another plea, pronounced a verdict issuing a slew of directions to stop seat-blocking in NEET-PG counselling and directed publication of raw scores, answer keys, and normalisation formulae of the exam.
