Supreme Court sought a progress report on reforms in the National Testing Agency and the implementation of committee recommendations

The Supreme Court on Friday sought a status report from the Centre on the progress of reforms in the National Testing Agency (NTA), including the recommendations and implementation roadmap being prepared by the Nandan Nilekani-led committee.

The Bench of Justices P.S. Narasimha and Alok Aradhe was hearing a batch of petitions concerning reforms in the NTA following controversies surrounding the conduct and integrity of NEET-UG and other national-level examinations.

The Centre, through Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, informed the Court that the Nilekani Committee had conducted exhaustive consultations and was expected to submit its report by the end of September.


Justice P.S. Narasimha asked about the committee's progress and who was assisting it. The Solicitor General said the Joint Secretary, Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT), was assisting the committee.

The Court directed that the Joint Secretary indicate the progress made and the suggestions received by the committee.

The Bench emphasised that the focus should be on institutionalising the reforms and their actual implementation, rather than merely generating another committee report.

Justice Narasimha said: “We had the Radhakrishnan Committee. What we have today is only a committee report, and full stop. The most important thing is evaluation of the recommendations and their implementation.”

The Solicitor General submitted that the Nilekani Committee would provide a roadmap setting out what needs to be done, at what stage and within what timeframe.

The Court also sought details about the NTA's infrastructure, manpower and functioning.

Supreme Court indicates it may inspect NTA premises

The Solicitor General informed the Bench that the NTA now has separate permanent premises near Minto Road in New Delhi.

Justice Narasimha indicated that the Bench wanted to see the NTA's infrastructure and functioning firsthand. He said: “I and my brother would like to visit the premises, someday.”

The Court also stressed the need for institutional permanence within the NTA, including permanent staff.

Justice Narasimha said: “Permanency of the place, permanency of at least half of the staff. Not everybody should be a deputationist. There should be permanent staff.”

The Court further asked about the NTA's coordination with other institutions and whether its functioning required statutory backing.

According to the NTA's affidavit, the agency has moved from exam-specific units towards a functional vertical structure intended to develop specialised, domain-specific capabilities. Its leadership has also been upgraded, with a Secretary-level officer serving as Director General and officers from multiple services and domain specialists being brought in.

The affidavit stated that the NTA's confidential operations had been shifted to a dedicated 55,521 sq ft government facility at Minto Road, New Delhi, with security arrangements including CISF personnel, X-ray screening and metal detectors.

Court seeks affidavit on implementation of reforms

The Bench directed the Joint Secretary, DoPT, who is coordinating with the High-Powered Committee, to file an affidavit indicating the progress made.

The affidavit is to be filed within three weeks.

The Solicitor General submitted that the reforms would include filling sanctioned posts, creating specialised verticals, appointing domain experts, strengthening infrastructure and further digitisation.

The Court also asked whether the reforms would be implemented in phases, particularly keeping in view the upcoming examination cycle.

The Centre informed the Court that the Nilekani Committee was conscious of the approaching examination and that suggestions received from the petitioners had been placed before it.

The Court directed the NTA to upload its affidavit on its web portal so that stakeholders could access details of the reforms undertaken so far.

The matter is to be listed after three to four weeks.

The Supreme Court's earlier intervention in the NEET examination matter followed the 2024 controversy and led to the constitution of an expert committee headed by former ISRO chairman Dr K. Radhakrishnan to examine measures for strengthening the NTA and preventing recurrence of examination-related irregularities.

Dr. Mangla Kohli's intervention taken on record

The Bench also took note of the intervention of Dr Mangla Kohli in the NEET reforms matter. The Court noted that Dr Kohli had been associated with the medical profession and medical education for nearly 35 years and observed that her experience could be a “value addition” to the proceedings.

The Solicitor General also supported the intervention, submitting that someone with experience in the field could assist the Court.

The Court asked Dr Kohli to provide copies of her suggestions for consideration in the matter.

Plea for domain experts in NTA governing body

During the hearing, submissions were also made seeking the involvement of domain experts in the NTA's governing body, as recommended by the Radhakrishnan Committee. The submission referred to the recommendation for a governing body headed by a non-executive chairman who could be an eminent technocrat, academic or industry leader.

The Court noted that the question of involving domain experts was already being considered by the NTA and the High-Powered Committee. It said: “Once the affidavit of the High-Powered Committee is placed on record, we will know how it is progressing. We will accordingly deal with it.”

Advocate Tanvi Dubey urged the Court to make the reforms time-bound, pointing out that only a few months remained before the next examination.

The Solicitor General responded that the government and the Nilekani Committee were conscious of the approaching examination and that all suggestions had been placed before the committee.

Background of the Case

In its affidavit, the Union Government informed the Court that the transition of NEET-UG to a computer-based test (CBT), either as a single-stage examination or a two-stage model on the lines of JEE (Main and Advanced), is being actively examined by all stakeholders.

On July 15, the Court had indicated that a plea challenging the NTA's decision to cancel and re-conduct NEET UG 2026 for nearly 22 lakh candidates had become infructuous, while observing that concerns relating to institutional reforms in the examination process could still be examined in the pending proceedings.

Last month, the Supreme Court had refused to urgently list pleas concerning the re-conduct of the NEET-UG 2026 examination scheduled for June 21, reiterating that all matters relating to the examination stand assigned to a Bench led by Justice P.S. Narasimha.

Earlier, on June 17, the Court had said that a plea challenging the National Testing Agency's (NTA) decision to cancel and re-conduct NEET-UG 2026 for nearly 22 lakh candidates across the country would be placed before the Bench headed by Justice P.S. Narasimha after the partial court working days, along with all other pending NEET matters.

In a related news, the Supreme Court had recently refused a plea made before it to conduct re-test of the National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test (NEET)-UG 2026, scheduled on June 21, through a Computer-Based Test (CBT) mode. A bench of Justices PS Narasimha and Aravind Kumar was hearing a petition by RJD MP Sudhakar Singh which demanded immediate migration of NEET examinations to a CBT-based system. The bench posted the matter to July, effectively denying relief of NEET re-test. Justice Narasimha observed that the Court had already dismissed similar pleas in the past. "You know what kind of problems we are having. The examination was cancelled, it is being reconducted...the kind of pressure that they have, similar matters we have dismissed," Justice Narasimha observed.

Recently, Court on May 29th had underscored the urgent need for structural reforms within the National Testing Agency, observing that recurring controversies surrounding NEET examinations would continue unless clear individual accountability was fixed within the system. The Bench of Justices PS Narasimha and Alok Aradhe made the observations while hearing a batch of petitions arising from the recent NEET-UG 2026 paper leak and subsequent cancellation of the examination.

“The real problem won’t stop till actual accountability arises… Unless you identify the duty holders, it will be a diffused obligation,” the Bench remarked, stressing that responsibility within the examination framework cannot remain vague or institutional alone. Calling the incident “very traumatic”, the Court said students and their families should not suffer due to repeated failures in conducting national-level examinations. “We cannot disappoint our students. It is not merely the student, it’s the family too… It is so much of emotions, love, time, years of study,” the Bench had observed.

Case Title: Sudhakar Singh v. Union of India & Ors and Federation of All India Medical Association v. NTA; United Doctors Front v. Ministry of Education

Bench: Justices PS Narasimha and Alok Aradhe

Hearing Date: September 18, 2026

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