New Delhi, May 26 (UNI) A petition challenging the two-shift format of the NEET PG 2025 examination was mentioned today before the Supreme Court, with the petitioners seeking urgent listing of the matter before June 2, the scheduled date for the release of admit cards.
Appearing before a bench comprising Chief Justice of India BR Gavai and Justice AG Masih, counsel for the petitioners pressed for early hearing, citing the approaching issuance of admit cards.
“My lords had said they would list the matter this week… it has not come in the list. The urgency is that the admit cards will be issued in the first week of June, June 2. Kindly have it tomorrow or the day after,” the counsel submitted.
Responding to the request, the bench assured that the matter would be listed soon.
This is the second time the petition has been mentioned before the bench.
On May 23, the matter was previously brought to the Court’s attention and the bench had indicated that it would be taken up in the last week of May.
The NEET PG 2025 examination is scheduled to be held on June 15, with results expected by July 15.
On May 5, the Supreme Court had issued notices to the National Board of Examinations (NBE), National Medical Commission (NMC), and the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare seeking their response to the petition.
The petitioners have contested the NBE’s decision to conduct the postgraduate medical entrance examination in two shifts, alleging that it violates the principles of fairness and equality guaranteed under Articles 14 and 21 of the Constitution.
According to the plea, conducting the exam in multiple shifts risks disparity in difficulty levels, potentially leading to unfair advantages for certain candidates. It seeks the Court’s direction to conduct NEET PG 2025 in a single shift to ensure a “just, fair, reasonable, and equitable” competitive environment.
The petition also raises concerns about transparency in the normalisation and moderation process used to balance scores across shifts. It points to NEET PG 2024, which was also held in two shifts, and resulted in a similar legal challenge. The petition cites an analysis by a prominent online coaching platform, highlighting a disparity in subject-wise question distribution between shifts.
“It is humbly submitted that to weed out such discrepancies and provide a uniform and equitable testing ground and fair competition, a single shift is the only viable solution,” the plea states.
The petitioners argue that the variation in questions can inflate or deflate scores and rankings, thereby infringing on candidates’ right to equality and right to a fair examination process.
The Supreme Court is expected to hear the matter imminently, ahead of the issuance of admit cards, in what could become a precedent-setting decision on exam conduct standards and students’ constitutional rights.
