NEET PG 2025: Supreme Court seeks response from NBEMS, NMC on two-shift exam format

NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Monday sought response from the National Board of Examinations in Medical Sciences (NBEMS), National Medical Commission (NMC), and the Union ministry of health regarding the decision to conduct the NEET PG 2025 exam in two shifts.

The apex court issued a notice on a writ petition filed by seven petitioners — Aditi, Atashi Das, Ravi, Joel Joseph Issac, Tayyab Chaudhary, Amit Singh, And Mrinal Jaiswal — who requested to direct NBEMS to hold the exam in a single shift to ensure “fair, just, reasonable, and equitable" grounds of competition for all the candidates, the Live Law reported.

A bench comprising Justice BR Gavai and Justice KV Viswanathan issued the notice on writ petition challenging the NBEMS notification for conducting the exam in two shifts.

The petitioners argued that holding the exam in two shifts undermines fairness as NEET PG lacks transparency due to implementation of moderation and normalisation rules. “It also violates article 21 of the candidates, as the process violates the basic right to fair examination,” it added.

Also read NEET PG 2025 raw scores won’t be disclosed or used for ranking: NBEMS explains normalisation method

Referring to last year’s NEET PG exam and the controversies over varying difficulty level in shifts, the petitioners said “disparity in questions for each subject creates inflation and variation in marks and rankings”. Alleging that the second shift was comparatively easier, the petitioners urged the top court to issue instructions to the board to hold the exam in a single shift as students who get the difficult set will be at disadvantage.

As per the computer-generated date, the NEET PG Supreme Court hearing 2025 will be taken up next on May 20, sci.gov.in website read. Meanwhile, the NEET PG registration ends tomorrow. Candidates will be able to submit their application form on the official website, natboard.edu.in.

In March, Kerala MP Kodikunnil Suresh urged the Lok Sabha to address the concerns of aspirants and take immediate action to ensure fairness and transparency in the exam. Further, he said that the decision on NEET PG will 'impacts future of healthcare of India'.