Dissolve NTA, implement statutory framework: Doctors' body moves Supreme Court

New Delhi: Demanding the replacement of the existing National Testing Agency (NTA) framework with an independent statutory examination authority established through an Act of Parliament, a doctors' body has moved the Supreme Court by filing a petition over the alleged systemic failures in the conduct of NEET UG 2026, leading to the paper leak controversy.

The petition, filed under Article 32 of the Constitution of India by United Doctors Front (UDF) Chairperson Dr Lakshya Mittal, has been submitted before the Apex Court through Advocates-on-Record Ritu Reniwal, Dr Charu Mathur and Advocate Mahendra.

In its plea, UDF argued that the current structure of the National Testing Agency has resulted in an "accountability vacuum" because the agency functions as an autonomous society under the Societies Registration Act, 1860.

The association pointed out that, unlike the UPSC (Constitutional) or SSC (Statutory), the NTA is not directly answerable to Parliament and operates under the Ministry of Education, shielding it from direct CAG audits and mandatory parliamentary committee probes.

The petition comes in the wake of the NEET-UG 2026 examination controversy. The medical entrance examination, held on May 3, 2026, was later cancelled after allegations of a large-scale “Guess Paper” racket and paper leak surfaced. Investigations by the Rajasthan Special Operations Group (SOG) and subsequent CBI FIRs reportedly found that examination-related material had been circulated on digital platforms before the exam.

Referring to the incident, the petition stated that despite claims of high-tech security arrangements including GPS tracking, biometric verification and AI-assisted CCTV monitoring, the examination system failed, affecting nearly 22.7 lakh aspirants.

The petition mentioned that the recurring leaks constitute a violation of Articles 14 (Right to Equality) and 21 (Right to Life/Livelihood), as the state has failed to provide a fair and merit-based selection process.

The petition also emphasised that the 2026 leak occurred despite the Public Examinations (Prevention of Unfair Means) Act, 2024, which proved to be an insufficient deterrent, explicit warnings from the Hon’ble Supreme Court in Vanshika Yadav v. Union of India (2024), which cautioned the NTA against "flip-flops" and administrative lapses and that the recurrence proves that "cosmetic" administrative tweaks and expert committees (e.g., K. Radhakrishnan Committee) are inadequate without a fundamental legislative overhaul.

A High-Level Committee, headed by former ISRO Chairman K. Radhakrishnan, was constituted on June 22, 2024, following the 2024 paper leak controversy to suggest measures to ensure a foolproof examination process.

The committee recommended structural reforms, enhanced examination security systems, institutional coordination mechanisms, and standard operating procedures to prevent future breaches in both pen-and-paper and computer-based examinations. Among them, conducting the examination entirely online was among the key recommendations made by the committee.

The association prayed for the dissolution of the NTA in its current form and the enactment of a Parliamentary Act to create a new Testing Authority. 

"This statutory shift would ensure: Direct Parliamentary Oversight: The Chairperson and functions would be defined by law, making the body directly answerable to the legislature. Financial Transparency: Mandatory, end-to-end CAG audits. Legal Safeguards: Strict statutory penalties for leaks and a legally mandated grievance redressal mechanism for students. Elimination of Outsourcing Ambiguity: Restricting the role of private vendors in core examination functions," mentioned the petition.

In its petition, the UDF has sought a writ of mandamus directing the respondents to restructure the National Testing Agency through a statutory framework enacted by Parliament and dissolve the NTA in its present form under the Societies Registration Act, 1860.

The plea also sought directions to the Union Government to introduce legislation for establishing a statutory national testing body with clearly defined legal powers, transparency norms, and direct accountability to the Legislature.

Further, the petition requested the appointment of a court-monitored committee to supervise the conduct and transition of upcoming national examinations to ensure "zero-leak" integrity. 

Commenting on this, Dr Lakshya Mittal told Medical Dialogues, "Examinations deciding the future of millions of students cannot continue under a society-act registered autonomous NGO-like framework lacking adequate constitutional and parliamentary accountability mechanisms. The country now requires a robust, transparent, and constitutionally accountable statutory examination authority whose primary responsibility remains the protection of students’ interests and the preservation of merit-based selection."

NEET cancelled

The NEET UG 2026 exam was conducted on May 3 by the National Testing Agency and was held from 2:00 PM to 5:00 PM in pen-and-paper mode. Over 22.7 lakh aspirants appeared for the examination this year. It took place across 551 cities in India and 14 cities abroad, covering over 5,400 centres.

However, the NTA on May 12, 2026, declared the cancellation of the examination held on May 3 and subsequently announced the re-examination on June 21, 2026.

The following decision triggered anxiety and anger among lakhs of medical aspirants across the country, many of whom said they were feeling shocked, stressed and uncertain about their future. While some aspirants supported the decision to cancel the examination in the interest of fairness, others said that they are being forced to suffer because of the actions of a few people.

The NTA had further informed that the Government of India decided to refer the matter to the Central Bureau of Investigation for a comprehensive inquiry into the allegations after it declared to re-conduct the NEET UG 2026 examination soon. Based on the centre's direction, the CBI registered an FIR in the case.

This came in the backdrop of the probe by the Rajasthan Police Special Operations Group, which reportedly found a “guess paper” containing more than 100 questions similar to those asked in the NEET UG examination. The question paper series under scrutiny has been described as a “guess paper” which reportedly contained around 410 questions. Out of these, nearly 120 questions are alleged to have appeared in the Biology and Chemistry sections of the examination.

The investigation found that the leaked papers were circulated through WhatsApp and Telegram groups ahead of the NEET UG 2026 examination held on May 3. According to reports, the matter came to light after a Sikar-based MBBS student studying at a medical college in Kerala allegedly shared a PDF of a “guess paper” with his father on May 2. The father, who runs a PG accommodation facility in Sikar, reportedly circulated the document further to a chemistry and a biology teacher who identified the similarities in questions.

As the investigation widened, Rajasthan SOG and later the CBI uncovered what officials described as a multi-state network involving students, coaching-linked persons and middlemen. The alleged leak reportedly spread from Kerala and Rajasthan to Haryana, Maharashtra, Bihar, Uttarakhand, Jammu and Kashmir and other states.

Seeking action, the Federation of All India Medical Association (FAIMA) and the Indian Medical Association Junior Doctors' Network (IMA-JDN) filed separate petitions before the Supreme Court demanding the replacement of NTA and strict action against the repeated paper leak incidents.

The issue also led to massive protests and condemnation by the medical fraternity, who blamed the NTA and the government for failing to prevent another paper leak controversy in 2026. They have criticised the authorities for playing with the future of over 22 lakh aspirants who appeared for the exam and are again forced to re-appear.

Also read- NTA to conduct NEET 2026 re-exam on June 21