NEET- PG : Supreme Court Seeks Institutional Mechanism To Address Recurring NEET-PG Cut-Off Issues

“This is happening every year that the academic sessions go on, counselling continues, and young people face a lot of trouble while a large number of seats remain unfilled. Perhaps the system needs to be tweaked. The method needs to be institutionalized”, the court observed.

A bench of Justice PS Narasimha and Justice Alok Aradhe was hearing a plea challenging the decision to lower the qualifying cut-off percentiles for the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test Post Graduate (NEET-PG) examinations.

The challenge arises from a January 13, 2026 notice issued by the National Board of Examinations in Medical Sciences, which reduced the qualifying percentile cut-offs for the third round of counselling in NEET-PG 2025-26.

The cut-off for General/EWS candidates was reduced from the 50th percentile (276 out of 800 marks) to the 7th percentile (103 marks). For General PwBD candidates, it was reduced from the 45th percentile (255 marks) to the 5th percentile (90 marks). For SC/ST/OBC candidates, including PwBD candidates, it was reduced from the 40th percentile (235 marks) to the 0th percentile (minus 40 marks).

During the hearing, the Court noted that the issue of lowering cut-offs and resulting complications in counselling has been happening every year. Reduction of qualifying percentiles has been resorted to in previous NEET-PG admission cycles.

In 2021 and 2022, the cut-off was reduced by 15-25 percentile points across categories to address vacant seats. In 2023, the qualifying percentile was reduced to 0 percentile for all categories, including General/EWS, SC/ST/OBC and PwD candidates, allowing even negative scores to qualify.

In 2024, the cut-off was again lowered during counselling rounds to 15 percentile for General/EWS and 10 percentile for SC/ST/OBC. These reductions were made after initial rounds of counselling to fill vacant seats.

The Court suggested that the government consider constituting a committee to conduct an audit of performance and examine why the issue arises year after year. It highlighted that such issues are repeatedly discussed in court and then fade away, noting that considerable time and public money is being spent on litigation around the issue.

The Court asked the Centre and the concerned Ministry and create a working institution to examine why the problems are repeating and arrive at solutions along with a mechanism for enforcement. It listed the matter after two weeks noting that once such an institutional mechanism is in place and functions in real time, courts may not need to interfere.

In earlier proceedings, the Court had indicated that it would examine whether the sharp reduction in the qualifying percentile for NEET-PG 2025-26 affects standards in postgraduate medical education. The Centre had submitted that the decision to reduce the percentile was taken in view of vacancies and that NEET-PG does not certify minimum clinical competence, as candidates already hold MBBS degrees and the examination is meant to prepare an inter se merit list.

The Court had observed that while the Union's position that NEET-PG is distinct from entry into MBBS is valid, the impact of drastically reducing the cut-off, “virtually bringing it to zero,” would still need to be examined, particularly in the context of maintaining standards.

Case no. – W.P.(C) No. 136/2026 and connected matters

Case Title – Harisharan Devgan v. Union of India and connected matters