NEET paper leak: Supreme Court says NTA needs to be institutionalised, tech changes needed

The Supreme Court on Wednesday underscored that the National Testing Agency, which conducts various entrance examinations to higher educational institutions, needs to be institutionalised and made robust to ensure there are no question paper leaks.

A Bench of Justices PS Narasimha and Alok Aradhe also emphasised that various technological changes need to be ushered in to ensure that a robust mechanism is in place to hold entrance examinations smoothly.

The Court was hearing a batch of petitions filed in light of the question paper leaks connected to the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET) this year.

The Court today said that it is duty bound to ensure that NTA functions as a vibrant institution and experienced people work for the body.

"Our duty is to ensure that there is a vibrant is institution that the country can be proud of. If you don’t institutionalise, experienced people get transferred and the entire experience is lost. There are a lot of technological changes that have to be brought about," the Court remarked.

The Court then directed the Central government to file an affidavit indicating the progress made and steps taken to implement the recommendations made by the Radhakrishnan committee and the Nandan Nilekani committee.

The Radhakrishnan committee was a high-level committee set up in 2024 after a similar question paper leak in NEET-UG exam that year.

It had made a slew of recommendations to ensure more robust mechanism for conducting entrance exams.

The Nandan Nilekani committee was set up by the Central government this year to explore and recommend reforms for conducting competitive examinations in India.

"Union of India has filed an affidavit indicating the progress that has been made. We have conveyed to Solicitor General that this court is concerned with institutionalisation of NTA. With all infrastructure, manpower, technological requirements etc. we have been informed that Nandan Nilekani committee has recommended reforms relating to AI, blockchain etc. we are concerned about institutionalisation of NTA. We direct the secretary to file an affidavit on the steps being taken to implement the recommendations of the Radhakrishnan committee as nuanced by the Nandan Nilekani committee," the Court said in its order.

The matter will be heard again after 3 weeks.

The petitions before the Court include one filed by the Federation of All India Medical Association (FAIMA) and represented through Advocate Tanvi Dubey, which has sought replacement or restructuring of the NTA.

Among other prayers, the plea sought the “digital locking” of question papers, transition to a Computer-Based Test (CBT) model and publication of centre-wise results to detect anomalies. The petitioner has also filed an application with suggestions on how the shift to CBT could be carried out.

Another petition, filed by the United Doctors Front through advocates Ritu Reniwal and Charu Mathur, seeks the establishment of a statutory national testing body, with better oversight and direct parliamentary accountability.

A separate plea has also been filed by Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) MP Sudhakar Singh, social activist Anubhav Garg, Indian Medical Association national spokesperson Dhruv Chauhan and political leader Harisharan Devgan.

The plea seeks a transition of NEET-UG to a CBT format and the replacement of the NTA with a new independent examination authority, among other prayers.

NEET was plagued by allegations of a paper leak in 2024 as well. At the time, the Supreme Court accepted the NTA's stand that the leak was not widespread and declined to order a re-examination.

However, it warned that the NTA to be more careful and directed a seven-member committee formed by the Central government to examine the issues and address them.

In May this year, however, the Court noted with despair that no lessons seems to have been learnt by the NTA since then.

Hence, it proceeded to hear the petitions seeking various reforms.

During the hearing today, Solicitor General Tushar highlighted the steps taken by the government to iron-fence the exam process.

"The system in place is fool proof but at some points there are human interventions. One paper of physics, 100 MCQs if I want one question paper of 100 marks there are several moderators asked to make a question bank of 500 questions. Another set of moderators select 100 each and make 4 question papers. Thereafter, out of the 4 QPs the DG NTA selects only 2 question papers. Till then, nobody knows which one will be ultimate question paper. Then it goes in a sealed box to two separate printers. Printers are identified printers with CCTV and CISF surveillance. The person goes with a box with a digital key. When he reaches there, the owner of the printing press will call the DG NTA that your man has reached. Then the code is shared and it is opened. Once it is opened, no outsider is even allowed to enter the printing press. All of this is video recorded. The rule is for each classroom there will be 24 students. The QP along with OMR is sealed in a sealed envelope, to open the envelope I have to break the seal," the SG said.

He also explained the logistics behind how the question papers are printed and transported.

"The printer also doesn’t know for which exam he is printing the paper. He doesn’t know which exam the papers belong to. Each exam centre is sent packed question papers. They are packed in an iron box with a non-openable lock. It can only be broken open. It doesn’t have key or any digital number. The vehicle which carries the question papers is GPS tracked. There are two sets of question papers in two separate boxes. The boxes are kept in strong rooms of banks. Usually it is SBI or Canara bank. If the exam is on February 1, in the morning, the city coordinator is informed by the DG which set of paper is to be used. He does with DM and other officials… in a motorcade. Everything is videographed. Thereafter, the packets are given to each class coordinator. All the students have to break the seal open. After the exam, it comes back through the same stages," the SG said.

The Court said that its concern is on institutionalising the process.

"Our concern is how you institutionalise the conduct of the examination. Secure office promises, confidential operational infrastructure, cyber security. They have suggested 10 verticals to be created. Testing centres, central network operators, etc. each of these the committee said that you need to create this infrastructure. The method by which you do sealing of the papers has to be undertaken by a permanent committee. How many DGs, ADGs etc have been appointed? This is what we want to know by way of regular affidavits. One more thing that they have suggested. What really needs to be done is institutional memory, institutional expertise. All that we need to see is has it been setup. You’ll have to have R&D infrastructure. Every exam systems change, technology changes. What is the software that you are developing? There needs to be a sovereign database. What about storage? There needs to be infrastructure. So far as security is concerned you need to have a director rank officer. Then you will realise what are the pitfalls. A vibrant system and institutionalisation is what needs to be done," the Bench said.

It then asked Centre to file an affidavit detailing the steps taken by it to implement the recommendations of the Radhakrishnan committee.

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