On Friday, the Supreme Court directed that the National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test for Postgraduate (NEET-PG), scheduled for June 15, 2025, must be held in a single shift rather than two.
A three-judge Bench led by Justice Vikram Nath, along with Justices Sanjay Kumar and N.V. Anjaria, emphasized the need for transparency and secure examination centers. “We direct that all necessary arrangements be made to conduct NEET-PG 2025 in a single shift, ensuring complete transparency and selecting secure venues,” the court stated.
The Bench noted that conducting the examination in two shifts would introduce an element of arbitrariness and compromise fairness. “No two question papers can be perfectly equal in terms of difficulty. This disparity would result in an uneven assessment of candidates’ relative merit. While normalization techniques may be used in exceptional cases, they should not become routine—especially when the number of candidates is not excessively large, as is the case this year,” the Bench observed.
The order came in response to a petition filed by a group of students challenging a notification that proposed conducting NEET-PG 2025 in two shifts. The petitioners argued that different question papers across shifts would create an unfair testing environment, as the difficulty levels could not be standardized.
The National Board of Examinations in Medical Sciences, along with other authorities, defended the two-shift plan, citing logistical challenges. They claimed the number of applicants was too high to manage in one shift and that it was difficult to find enough secure centers. They also expressed concerns that conducting the exam in a single shift could increase the risk of malpractice and delay the admission process.
However, the Supreme Court dismissed these arguments. It held that adequate time remained to identify enough secure centers for a single-shift examination. “This year, a total of 2,42,678 candidates have registered for NEET-PG, and the exam will be conducted nationwide—not in a single state. Given the technological advancements in the country, we are not convinced that the authorities cannot find a sufficient number of centers across India to accommodate all candidates in one shift,” the court asserted.
The court also highlighted the substantial examination fees collected—₹3,500 from each general category candidate and ₹2,500 from SC/ST/PwD candidates—as evidence that the examining body had the financial resources to arrange adequate facilities.
“With the exam scheduled for June 15, 2025, there are still two weeks left for the authorities to organize more secure centers and ensure the exam is conducted in a single shift,” the Bench concluded.