Supreme Court to Hear Plea on NEET PG 2026 Answer Key Transparency on October 15

The Supreme Court of India has scheduled a hearing for October 15 to address a petition concerning the transparency of the NEET PG 2026 examination. The plea, filed by the Democratic Medical Association, challenges the current disclosure practices of the National Board of Examinations in Medical Sciences (NBEMS) regarding answer keys and student responses.

The legal challenge follows an official notice issued by the NBEMS on October 1, 2026. The petitioners are seeking a directive from the court to compel the board to release the full text of questions, the specific options provided during the examination, and the individual responses recorded by candidates. Currently, the board provides data limited to numerical identifiers, such as Question IDs and response IDs, which the association argues prevents students from accurately verifying their scores and rankings.

Details of the Petition and Judicial Review

The petition, which has been listed at the fresh admission stage, requests that the Apex Court direct the NBEMS to provide comprehensive examination records through individual candidate logins. Specifically, the petitioners are asking for the ability to download documents, such as PDF or CSV files, that clearly display the questions in their original sequence, the responses selected by the candidate, and the final correct answers. Furthermore, the association is advocating for the establishment of an expert medical committee to oversee a formal answer key challenge window, allowing for the fair evaluation of potential discrepancies.

According to the official Supreme Court website, the matter will be heard by a bench comprising Justices Pamidighantam Sri Narasimha and Alok Aradhe. This judicial intervention is expected to provide clarity on the evaluation process for the examination, which was conducted on August 30 and September 5, 2026, with results subsequently declared on September 24, 2026.

Context on NEET PG Counselling

While the legal proceedings regarding transparency are underway, the broader admission process remains a critical concern for candidates. Participation in the NEET PG counselling rounds, which are managed by the Medical Counselling Committee (MCC), is restricted to those who have secured the minimum qualifying cut-off score. The online counselling process involves four rounds of seat allotment, determined by factors such as candidate rank, declared preferences for colleges and courses, and reservation criteria.

Qualified candidates are required to register on the official MCC website to participate in the seat allocation process. Following the online allotment, students must report to their assigned institutions for document verification to confirm their admission. The duration of the counselling process typically spans over two months, with each round requiring approximately 15 to 20 days from registration to reporting.