Supreme Court Directs NEET-PG 2025 to Be Held in Single Shift, Cites Concerns Over Fairness

Introduction

In a major decision aimed at ensuring transparency and fairness, the Supreme Court on May 30 directed the National Board of Examinations (NBE) to conduct the NEET-PG 2025 in a single shift, ruling out the possibility of holding the exam in two shifts.

A bench comprising Justices Vikram Nath, Sanjay Kumar, and NV Anjaria noted that conducting the postgraduate medical entrance examination in two shifts could create arbitrariness and a lack of parity among candidates. The Court emphasized that question papers across different shifts could never be perfectly equivalent in terms of difficulty, thereby undermining the principle of equal opportunity.

“Holding the examination in two shifts creates arbitrariness and fails to provide a level playing field. Any two question papers can never be of identical difficulty,” the Court observed.

Court Rejects Infrastructure Constraints Argument

In response to the NBE’s claim that conducting the exam in a single shift was unfeasible due to infrastructure limitations, the Court stated that such a stance was unacceptable given the technological advancements and resources available across the country.

“This is a nationwide examination, not one limited to a single city. It is hard to believe that, across the entire country, enough centres cannot be identified for a single shift,” the bench remarked.

The NBE had argued that limited online exam centres with reliable internet connectivity, security, and other logistical concerns made it necessary to conduct the exam in two shifts. However, the Court dismissed this justification, highlighting that NEET-UG—which sees even more candidates—has been held in a single shift in the past.

“Normalization Can’t Be the Norm”

The Court also took a strong stance against the routine application of normalisation techniques to equate the scores across shifts. While acknowledging that normalization can be used in exceptional circumstances, the bench ruled that relying on it year after year cannot become standard practice.

“Why should there be normalisation at all? Candidates writing the exam at different times face inherently different levels of difficulty,” said Justice Nath, firmly questioning the fairness of the two-shift format.

Petitioners: Exam Should Be Based on Merit, Not Luck

The petitioners, represented by Senior Advocate Shikhil Suri and others, argued that conducting the exam in multiple shifts gave room for “luck” to prevail over merit, as candidates in the easier shift could gain an unfair advantage. The plea referred to NEET-PG 2024, highlighting subject-wise inconsistencies and claiming that the second shift had easier questions, skewing results in favor of those candidates.

It was also argued that the current system violates Article 14 (Right to Equality) and Article 21 (Right to Life and Personal Liberty) of the Constitution, due to lack of transparency and fairness in the evaluation process.

The petitioners demanded a uniform examination format to ensure equal opportunity and fairness for all candidates.

Court’s Stand on Urgency

Despite the NBE’s claim that changes at this stage could delay the exam scheduled for June 15, 2025, the Supreme Court remained firm, stating that there was still adequate time to make arrangements for a single shift. The bench made it clear that administrative convenience cannot come at the cost of fairness.

“Do not threaten us with delays in admission. You still have more than two weeks to make the necessary arrangements,” the Court told NBE.

At the same time, the Court provided a window for NBE to seek an extension, if genuinely required, for identifying and preparing additional exam centres.

Legal Context and Broader Implications

The ruling stems from a writ petition filed in the case Dr. Aditi & Others v. National Board of Examination in Medical Sciences & Others (Diary No. 22918/2025). The petition challenged the decision to hold NEET-PG 2025 in two shifts, citing the negative implications for transparency and fairness.

This development follows another recent Supreme Court order directing reforms in NEET-PG counselling, specifically addressing issues like seat blocking and demanding the publication of raw scores, answer keys, and normalisation formulas to promote greater transparency.

Final Direction

In its order, the Supreme Court directed the NBE to:

• Conduct NEET-PG 2025 in a single shift;

• Ensure full transparency and use secured centres;

• Avoid applying normalization as a routine practice;

• Seek extension from the Court if conducting the exam on June 15 becomes unfeasible.

The ruling reinforces the judiciary's stance on equity and integrity in competitive examinations, setting a significant precedent for future entrance tests across disciplines.