NEET PG 2025 candidates move SC against new disclosure mechanism of answer key
Supreme Court of India
New Delhi: Challenging the "corrective notice" issued by the National Board of Examinations in Medical Sciences (NBEMS) on August 21, a group of NEET-PG 2025 aspirants has filed a plea before the Supreme Court.
The plea, filed by qualified doctors, has claimed that the new disclosure mechanism of answer keys is "opaque, unintelligible and incapable of meaningful verification."
Medical Dialogues had earlier reported that in the notice dated 21.08.2025, NBEMS had mentioned that since the sequence of questions asked within a section of Question paper of NEET-PG 2025 is shuffled for different candidates, and the order of four options for a question are also shuffled for different candidates. Therefore, NBE had decided that the questions, correct answer key and responses marked shall be displayed as per the sequence in Master set of Question Paper used for NEET-PG 2025.
However, in their plea before the Apex Court, the petitioners argued that this format deprives them of a "clear and candidate-wise mapped view of the questions actually attempted by them".
Also Read: NEET PG 2025 answer key soon! check complete details
"It frustrates the very object of publishing answer keys and responses, which is to enable candidates to cross-check their answers, raise objections against discrepancies, and ensure transparency in evaluation of a high-stakes national examination," stated the plea.
IANS has reported that the plea further contended that the Question-ID-only system renders the disclosure "illusory and non-verifiable" and violates Articles 14 and 21 of the Constitution by denying candidates a fair and transparent admission process.
The plea, filed by advocate Satyam Singh, emphasised that candidates are not seeking re-evaluation of answer sheets but their grievance is confined to the manner and format of disclosure. Further, the plea demanded that the disclosure must include: “(i) The questions in the order actually attempted, (ii) the candidate’s responses, (iii) the official correct answers, and (iv) the marks awarded.”
Referring to previous judicial directions on transparency in NEET-PG evaluations, the petition noted that the Supreme Court had earlier directed disclosure of raw scores, answer keys, and the normalisation formula.
The petition also highlights that other competitive examinations such as IIT-JEE, CLAT, and AIIMS INI-CET follow candidate-wise response disclosure practices.
With a large number of medical graduates competing for limited postgraduate seats, the petitioners contended that unless corrective directions are issued by the apex court, the "sanctity of NEET-PG will remain compromised."
The plea sought a declaration that the NBEMS corrective notice is unconstitutional to the extent it mandates only Question ID-based disclosure without candidate-wise sequence, and further seeks directions to publish actual questions as seen by each candidate, corresponding correct answer key and responses marked along with a reasonable mechanism to raise objections.
NEET PG Answer Key released by NBEMS:
Meanwhile, complying with the Supreme Court's earlier directions, the National Board of Examinations in Medical Sciences (NBEMS) has finally released the scorecard and final answer key for the National Eligibility-Entrance Test Postgraduate (NEET-PG) 2025 examination.
However, as announced before, the answer key, released by NBEMS, includes correct answer key and responses marked against question IDs, as per the sequence in the Master set of Question Paper used for NEET-PG 2025.
Terming it just a formality on NBE's part to comply with the Supreme Court's order, the NEET PG aspirants have started expressing their disappointment on social media platforms.
Also Read: Transparency or Formality? NEET PG 2025 answer key draws flak
