New Delhi, November 2: The Supreme Court on Monday questioned the National Board of Examinations in Medical Sciences (NBEMS) over its reluctance to disclose NEET PG question papers and directed the examination body to submit a written explanation justifying its policy.
A Bench comprising Justices P S Narasimha and Alok Aradhe was hearing petitions concerning transparency in the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test for Postgraduate courses (NEET PG), including a plea filed by the Democratic Medical Association (DMA) and others.
During the proceedings, the Court questioned why candidates were being provided numerical question IDs and answer details without access to the actual questions and options.
According to a statement issued by the DMA on November 2, Senior Advocate Shikhil Suri and Advocate Satyam Singh Rajput appeared for the petitioners.
During the hearing, counsel for NBEMS argued that the examination's question bank was limited and that releasing questions could affect the integrity of future examinations.
The examination body maintained that candidates were already being provided question IDs, their recorded responses and the correct-answer details.
However, the Bench questioned whether this arrangement offered sufficient transparency for candidates to independently verify their evaluation.
Justice Narasimha asked, "What happens to transparency?" and sought a more detailed explanation of why NEET PG should follow a different disclosure policy from other examinations.
The Court subsequently directed NBEMS to file written submissions explaining how disclosure of the questions could compromise the integrity of the postgraduate medical entrance examination.
The November 2 proceedings mark a further examination of NBEMS' existing answer-key disclosure mechanism.
The petitioners have sought access to the actual questions, answer options, recorded responses and official answer keys, arguing that numerical identifiers alone do not allow candidates to independently verify their scores.
The DMA, in its statement following the hearing, described the proceedings as a positive development in its demand for greater transparency.
The matter had previously come before the Supreme Court on October 15, when the Bench observed that similar concerns were already being examined in connected petitions.
The Court has not directed NBEMS to release the question papers at this stage. Its latest direction requires the examination body to explain its position in writing before the matter is considered further.