Supreme Court Seeks NBEMS Policy on Publishing NEET PG Answer Keys, No Stay on Ongoing Counselling

With no interim stay issued, the Medical Counselling Committee (MCC) will continue NEET PG 2025 counselling as scheduled.

The Supreme Court on Friday directed the National Board of Examinations in Medical Sciences (NBEMS) to file an affidavit explaining its policy on publishing answer keys for the NEET PG 2025 examination. The Court gave NBEMS two weeks to respond and clarified that the ongoing postgraduate medical counselling will not be affected by the case.

A Bench of Justices P.S. Narasimha and Vipul M. Pancholi heard a batch of petitions filed by NEET PG aspirants seeking greater transparency in the exam process. The petitioners argued that NBEMS only releases question IDs instead of complete question papers, answer keys, and candidates’ responses, making it difficult to verify marks and challenge discrepancies.

During the hearing, the Court asked NBEMS to clearly state whether it has a written policy on disclosing answer keys. The Board informed the Bench that candidates are required to sign non-disclosure agreements and that its current practice of withholding answer keys is based on convention rather than a formal rule.

The Bench also referred to the Union Public Service Commission’s (UPSC) decision to release provisional answer keys in the past and questioned whether NBEMS could adopt a similar approach to improve transparency.

While acknowledging the importance of transparency in public examinations, the Court said it would not, at this stage, look into individual complaints about the exam’s conduct or evaluation. It instead focused on examining the policy framework followed by NBEMS.

With no interim stay issued, the Medical Counselling Committee (MCC) can continue NEET PG 2025 counselling as scheduled. The next hearing will be held after NBEMS submits its affidavit within two weeks.