NEET PG 2025 Cut Off Reduction: Supreme Court Asks NBEMS to Justify Decision

NEET PG 2025: Supreme Court has questioned NBEMS over decision to reduce NEET qualifying percentile. Check updates here

NEET PG 2025 Cut Off Reduction Updates

NEET PG Updates: The Supreme Court has asked National Board of Examinations in Medical Sciences (NBEMS) to submit an affidavit explaining why it reduced the qualifying cut off percentile for NEET PG 2025-26. The court was hearing a petition challenging NBEMS’s January 13 notice on reduction of the cut-off. A bench comprising Justice Pamidighantam Narasimha and Justice Alok Aradhe heard the matter. During the hearing, Justice Narasimha said the issue involves competing concerns that need to be balanced.

During hearing, Justice Narasimha noted that this issue involves competing considerations which are required to be balanced. “On one hand we have this competing value to protect that seats should not go to waste. At the same time there is a pressure that they are not coming so please reduce the cut off,” he said. He added, “Then argument will be that the standards are being lowered and the counter argument is that seats are going waste. So somewhere there has to be a balance.” The bench indicated that Court would examine whether decision taken was “drastically wrong”. 

NEET PG 2025 Qualifying Cutoff 

The notice dated January 13, 2026 reduced minimum qualifying percentile cut-off for counselling of the third round of NEET PG 2025 for all categories. As per notice, qualifying cut off for General/EWS candidates was reduced from 50th percentile (276 marks out of 800) to 7th percentile (103 marks). For General PwBD candidates, it was reduced from 45th percentile (255 marks) to the 5th percentile (90 marks). Check table to know more 

Earlier, court issued notice on a petition challenging January 13 notification that lowered qualifying cut-off for NEET PG 2025-26. The petition claims that NEET cutoff has been reduced to low levels, including zero and negative marks. The petitioners argue that lowering qualifying standards for postgraduate medical education violates Articles 14 and 21 of Constitution. They also say that diluting merit at postgraduate level goes against provisions of the National Medical Commission Act, 2019.

Senior Advocate Gopal Sankarnarayanan for petitioners, relied on applicable regulations which state that if sufficient number of candidates in respective categories fail to secure minimum marks as prescribed, the Central Government, in consultation with National Medical Commission, may, at its discretion, lower the minimum marks. He submitted. He pointed out that approximately 80,000 seats are available while over 1,28,000 candidates fall within the qualifying percentiles of various categories like 50th, 45th or 40th percentiles.