The Supreme Court is set to consider a public interest litigation challenging the decision to significantly lower the qualifying cut-off percentiles for the NEET-PG 2025–26 exam. Scheduled for Monday, the hearing involves a Bench of Justices P.S. Narasimha and Alok Aradhe. The PIL questions the National Board of Examinations in Medical Sciences’ move to reduce the cut-offs to very low, zero, and even negative levels post-results and counseling rounds.
The Bench led by Justice Narasimha had previously issued notice on the PIL, seeking responses from various entities including the Union of India, NBEMS, NMC, and MCC. NBEMS clarified in its response to the court that it had no role in the decision to lower the qualifying percentile, stating its function is limited to conducting the exam and releasing results as per authorities’ directions. The Ministry of Health and Family Welfare directed NBEMS to revise the cut-off scores for NEET-PG 2025, leading to revised results being shared with the MCC.
According to the revised criteria, the qualifying percentiles were reduced significantly for different categories of candidates, resulting in nearly 95,913 additional candidates becoming eligible for counseling. The NBEMS highlighted that any ruling on the petition would impact these candidates who are not part of the case. The Delhi High Court had earlier dismissed a similar challenge, finding no arbitrariness in the percentile reduction and rejecting concerns about patient safety and merit dilution.
The PIL, filed by advocate Satyam Singh Rajput, argues that the reduction in qualifying standards is unconstitutional and poses risks to patient safety and medical education integrity. It contends that allowing candidates with zero or negative scores to enter specialist training undermines professional competence standards. The petition criticizes the conversion of NEET-PG into a mechanism certifying failure as eligibility, challenging the alteration of rules mid-selection process.
