The Centre on Tuesday informed the Supreme Court that it has constituted a high-powered committee, headed by the Director General of Health Services (DGHS), to develop a mechanism for a comprehensive audit of the existing admission process through the National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test for Postgraduate (NEET-PG). A Bench of Justices P S Narasimha and Alok Aradhe was hearing a batch of petitions challenging the reduction in the qualifying percentile for NEET-PG 2025.
Committee to review admission process
Additional Solicitor General Aishwarya Bhati told the Court that, in compliance with its oral directions, the Union government had issued a notification on July 23 constituting a 12-member committee, with the DGHS serving as its chairperson. She submitted that the panel's terms of reference include devising a mechanism for an internal audit of the existing NEET-PG admission process, identifying shortcomings in the system, and recommending practical and implementable solutions.
Recording the submission, the Bench granted the committee eight weeks to submit its report. "We will actively discuss the issue once the report comes in," the Court observed. The Bench also said the committee may co-opt members from the National Commission for Indian System of Medicine (NCISM) and the National Commission for Homeopathy (NCH), if required.
Court examining cut-off reduction
Earlier, the Supreme Court had said it would examine whether the sharp reduction in the qualifying percentile for NEET-PG 2025-26 had any bearing on the standards of postgraduate medical education. The Court noted that while the Centre was justified in arguing that NEET-PG is not an entry-level examination like NEET-UG and that all candidates are already qualified doctors, it would still consider whether lowering the cut-off could impact academic standards.
Petitions challenge decision
The petitions have been filed by social worker Harisharan Devgan and doctors Saurav Kumar, Lakshya Mittal and Akash Soni. They contend that the reduction in the qualifying percentile violates Articles 14 and 21 of the Constitution. Senior advocate Pinky Anand and advocate Satyam Singh Rajput appeared on behalf of Devgan. The petitioners have challenged the January 13 notification issued by the National Board of Examinations in Medical Sciences (NBEMS), which reduced the minimum qualifying percentile for candidates participating in the third round of NEET-PG 2025-26 counselling.
Centre defends policy
In its affidavit, the Director General of Health Services, under the Union Health Ministry, argued that the challenge concerns an academic and policy decision taken by competent statutory authorities under the National Medical Commission Act, 2019, in the larger public interest and within the domain of expert regulation. The affidavit stated that reducing the qualifying percentile was not unprecedented.
"Since the inception of NEET-PG in 2017, percentile reductions have been effected in appropriate circumstances to prevent seat wastage. In the academic year 2023 as well, the qualifying percentile was reduced to zero across categories. The present decision is thus consistent with the established policy and administrative practice," it said.
The Centre further submitted that NEET-PG scores reflect relative performance and examination design, and cannot be treated as an indicator of clinical competence. "It is pertinent to note that the purpose of NEET-PG is not to certify minimum competence, which already stands established by the MBBS qualification itself, but to generate an inter se merit list for allocation of limited postgraduate seats," the affidavit stated.
'Seats going vacant'
The government pointed out that eligibility for NEET-PG requires candidates to possess a recognised MBBS degree and complete the mandatory rotating internship. For the 2025-26 academic session, around 70,000 postgraduate seats were available for 2,24,029 candidates. Of these, 31,742 seats fell under the All India Quota (AIQ). The Centre informed the Court that after the second round of counselling, 9,621 AIQ seats remained vacant. "Out of these, 5,213 seats were vacant in government medical colleges alone (including AIQ and DNB seats). This factual position conclusively demonstrates that the reduction of percentile was not undertaken to benefit private medical institutions, but to prevent large-scale vacancy of seats, including in government institutions created through public expenditure," it submitted.
'Courts should exercise restraint'
The Centre argued that courts generally refrain from interfering in academic and policy decisions made by expert bodies unless such decisions are shown to be manifestly arbitrary, mala fide, or violative of statutory or constitutional provisions. Earlier, the NBEMS had informed the Supreme Court that lowering the qualifying percentile had made an additional 95,913 candidates eligible for NEET-PG 2025 counselling. Under the revised criteria, the qualifying percentile for the general category was reduced from the 50th percentile to the seventh percentile.