The Supreme Court on Friday directed the National Board of Examinations (NBE) to file an affidavit clarifying its policy on disclosing answer keys for the NEET-Postgraduate (PG) examinations.
A bench of Justices P.S. Narasimha and Vipul Pancholi issued the direction while hearing a batch of petitions concerning transparency in the conduct of NEET-PG exams, including the demand for publication of answer keys.
During the hearing, counsel for the NBE opposed the plea, arguing that such petitions were being advanced by coaching institutes that were “keen to get hold of the answer keys for question booklets.” The lawyer contended that public disclosure of the answer keys could “compromise the quality of the examination.”
The bench, however, sought a clear stand from the Board and directed it to submit its policy in a detailed affidavit.
Earlier, on September 26, a bench of Justices J.B. Pardiwala and K.V. Viswanathan had issued notices to the Centre and the NBE in Medical Sciences on similar petitions seeking publication of NEET-PG 2025 answer keys. The petitions had pressed for measures to enhance transparency in the postgraduate medical entrance process.
The Supreme Court had, in an order dated April 29, directed the publication of raw scores, answer keys, and the normalisation formula to ensure greater transparency. Petitioners have argued that candidates’ lack of access to answer keys or raw score data raises doubts about the fairness of the evaluation and normalisation process.
The matter will be taken up next after the NBE files its affidavit clarifying its position.
