The Centre has informed the Supreme Court that it has constituted a high-powered committee headed by the Director General of Health Services (DGHS) to carry out a comprehensive review of the existing admission mechanism for the National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test for Postgraduate (NEET-PG).The development was placed before a bench of Justices P S Narasimha and Alok Aradhe, which is hearing a batch of petitions questioning the decision to lower the qualifying cut-off. Taking note of the Centre’s submission, the court granted the panel eight weeks to submit its report and indicated that the matter would be examined further after receiving its findings.
DGHS-led committee to audit admission process
Appearing for the Centre, Additional Solicitor General Aishwarya Bhati informed the bench that the committee was constituted through a notification issued on July 23. The 12-member panel is chaired by the DGHS and has been tasked with conducting a detailed internal audit of the current NEET-PG admission system.According to the Centre, the committee will identify shortcomings in the existing admission process and recommend practical, implementable measures to improve transparency and efficiency. The Supreme Court also observed that the panel may include experts from the National Commission for Indian System of Medicine (NCISM) and the National Commission for Homeopathy (NCH), if required.Recording the government’s submission, the bench directed the committee to submit its report within eight weeks.
Court examining impact of reduced NEET-PG cut-off
The petitions before the apex court challenge the decision to reduce the qualifying percentile for the third round of NEET-PG 2025-26 counselling.Earlier, the Supreme Court had made it clear that while NEET-PG is a merit-based entrance examination for postgraduate admissions and not a test of basic medical competence, it would still examine whether a sharp reduction in qualifying marks could affect the overall standards of postgraduate medical education.The petitions have been filed by social worker Harisharan Devgan and doctors Saurav Kumar, Lakshya Mittal, and Akash Soni. They argue that lowering the qualifying percentile violates Articles 14 and 21 of the Constitution by compromising fairness and educational standards. The challenge specifically targets the January 13 notification issued by the National Board of Examinations in Medical Sciences (NBEMS), which lowered the qualifying percentile for the third round of counselling.
Centre defends policy, cites previous practice
In its affidavit before the court, the Union government defended the decision, describing it as an academic and policy matter falling within the authority of expert regulatory bodies under the National Medical Commission Act, 2019.The Centre argued that reducing the qualifying percentile is not a new practice. Since the introduction of NEET-PG in 2017, the cut-off has been lowered whenever necessary to avoid vacant postgraduate seats. It also pointed out that during the 2023 admission cycle, the qualifying percentile had been reduced to zero across all categories.According to the government, NEET-PG scores reflect relative performance among candidates rather than minimum professional competence. It maintained that every applicant appearing for the examination already possesses a recognised MBBS degree and has completed the mandatory rotating internship, meaning their eligibility as qualified medical graduates has already been established.The Centre further stated that the purpose of NEET-PG is to prepare an inter se merit list for allocating limited postgraduate seats rather than to certify medical competence.
Vacant seats prompted percentile reduction
The government also justified the decision by citing a significant number of vacant postgraduate seats after the second round of counselling.For the 2025-26 academic session, around 2.24 lakh candidates appeared for approximately 70,000 postgraduate seats, including 31,742 seats under the All India Quota (AIQ). Despite two rounds of counselling, 9,621 AIQ seats remained vacant, including 5,213 seats in government medical colleges and Diplomate of National Board (DNB) programmes.The Centre argued that the reduction in the qualifying percentile was intended to ensure that publicly funded medical seats did not remain unfilled and was not designed to benefit private medical institutions.
NBEMS: More than 95,000 candidates became eligible
Earlier submissions before the Supreme Court by the NBEMS revealed that the revised qualifying criteria expanded the counselling pool substantially. Following the reduction in the percentile, an additional 95,913 candidates became eligible to participate in NEET-PG 2025 counselling.Under the revised notification, the qualifying cut-off for the general category was reduced from the 50th percentile to the seventh percentile, a move that has become the central issue in the ongoing litigation.With the DGHS-led committee now tasked with reviewing the broader admission framework, the Supreme Court is expected to resume a detailed examination of the matter after the panel submits its recommendations. The committee’s findings could play a significant role in shaping future reforms to the NEET-PG admission process while influencing the court’s assessment of the current policy.
