NEET-PG | 'No Logic' : Supreme Court Questions NBE's Policy On Non-Disclosure Of Question Papers And Answer Keys

The Supreme Court today expressed doubt about the logic behind policy of non-disclosure of NEET PG question papers and answer keys followed by the National Board of Examinations in Medical Sciences.A bench of Justice P.S. Narasimha and Justice Vijay Bishnoi was hearing a batch of pleas seeking disclosure of answer keys and question papers of NEET-PG. While the NBE has published question IDs and the correct answers, the questions have not been published.Last week, the Court had sought the report of the expert committee which had opined that no one except examinees should read the contents of the test. Today, Justice Narasimha observed that the Court was not convinced, and would examined the issue in detail. He remarked, “We will hear this matter in detail. We still need justification for this. We are not fully convinced. We will examine this. It doesn't stand logic to us, merely because correct answers are correct answers.”The hearing took place pursuant to the Court's earlier order asking the NBE to place on record its policy on non-disclosure.In compliance with the order, NBE filed an affidavit dated November 28, 2025 stating that disclosure of question papers and answer keys would lead to their misuse and exploitation, particularly by the coaching industry. “the question bank prepared by the answering Respondent are limited and is an invaluable and envious national asset for all times to come. The policy of non-disclosure being followed by the answering Respondent aims to safeguard the said scarce national asset and prevent its misuse and exploitation, especially by the coaching industry, who would prepare model questions and question papers using the original question papers”, the affidavit stated.It stated that a five-member expert committee constituted in 2012 to finalise the modalities of conducting NEET-PG as a computer-based examination had recommended the non-disclosure policy.According to the affidavit, the committee recommended strict measures to ensure sanctity, secrecy and confidentiality of the examination, including a condition that no one except examinees should read the contents of the test at any time, and that examinees should be bound by a non-disclosure agreement.The affidavit stated that these recommendations were approved by the governing body of the NBE in its meeting held on May 4, 2012. It further stated that the policy of non-disclosure was incorporated in the Information Bulletin for NEET-PG 2013, which explicitly prohibited candidates from publishing, reproducing or transmitting any part of the test content, and warned that any violation would invite penal action and cancellation of candidature. The NBE asserted that this policy has been consistently followed not only in NEET-PG but also in earlier All India Post Graduate Medical Entrance Examinations conducted by it.The affidavit highlighted that NEET-PG is a specialised examination where questions of an appropriate difficulty level are very limited in number. The question bank, according to the NBE, is prepared through a detailed process involving subject experts from government medical colleges, item-writing workshops, validation workshops and assignment of difficulty levels. It stated that experts involved in the process are bound by confidentiality clauses, and that all intellectual property rights over the questions vest with the NBE.It stated that making such material available would encourage rote learning and would turn the examination into a test of memory rather than an assessment of a candidate's understanding and clinical acumen. The affidavit further stated that, unlike subjects such as mathematics or physics, medical science questions cannot be easily multiplied or altered by changing variables, and that maintaining an appropriate difficulty level further restricts the pool of usable questions.The affidavit also highlighted that premier institutions such as AIIMS, NIMHANS and SCTIMST do not disclose question papers and answer keys of their postgraduate medical entrance examinations. It also cited international examinations such as the United States Medical Licensing Examination and the Professional and Linguistic Assessments Board examination in the United Kingdom, where question papers and answer keys are not disclosed.The affidavit further highlighted that following the Supreme Court's judgment dated April 29, 2025 which directed publication of raw scores, answer keys and normalisation formulae for transparency in multi-shift NEET-PG examinations, the NBE had made available the question ID numbers, correct answer keys and responses marked by candidates through an online portal. Case no. – W.P.(C) No. 456/2025 and connected casesCase Title – Aditi v. National Board of Examination in Medical Sciences and connected cases

NEET-PG | 'No Logic' : Supreme Court Questions NBE's Policy On Non-Disclosure Of Question Papers And Answer Keys

Amisha Shrivastava

The Court said that it was not fully convinced by the NBE’s justification.

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