The Supreme Court of India on Wednesday directed the National Testing Agency to submit a detailed status report outlining the execution of reform recommendations proposed by two advisory panels for the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test.
A bench comprising Justice P.S. Narasimha and Justice Alok Aradhe instructed Solicitor General Tushar Mehta to file a fresh affidavit explaining the concrete steps taken to adopt the recommendations of both the Radhakrishnan panel and the Nandan Nilekani task force. The court emphasized that operational reforms to the national medical entrance test must be institutionalized to ensure long-term stability and reliability across examination cycles.
Judicial Concerns Over Exam Integrity
During the hearing, the bench remarked that while test administration protocols often appear sound on paper, systemic vulnerabilities continue to emerge between consecutive examination cycles. Supporting the conclusions of the Radhakrishnan panel, the justices noted that recurring flaws indicate a broader structural problem that requires systematic institutionalization rather than temporary fixes.
Government Defends Security Infrastructure
Representing the government and testing authorities, Solicitor General Tushar Mehta maintained that current safeguards remain robust and difficult to compromise. Detailing the full chain of custody from paper printing to final candidate distribution, he explained that multiple independent moderators draft question banks without knowing which questions are ultimately selected for the test. He further noted that transport vehicles carrying question papers are fitted with GPS tracking systems that log even minor location shifts.
Litigation Context and Advisory Frameworks
The instructions were issued during proceedings on a cluster of legal filings, including a petition presented by advocate Tanvi Dubey on behalf of the Federation of All India Medical Association.
The underlying legal challenges stem from earlier question paper leaks during the undergraduate medical entrance examination. In response to those security failures, the Ministry of Education constituted a seven-member committee headed by K. Radhakrishnan to propose examination reforms, strengthen data security protocols, and review the structural organization of the National Testing Agency. The government separately created a high-level task force led by Infosys co-founder Nandan Nilekani to recommend structural overhauls for the examination process.
