New Delhi: The apex court on Friday sought a detailed affidavit from the Centre on a plea challenging the decision to lower the qualifying cut-off percentiles for the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test Post Graduate (NEET-PG) examinations 2025-2026.
A bench headed by justice PS Narasimha said the matter involved the question of standards. “This is about standards. The question is whether those standards are being compromised,” it said.
The development took place during the resumed hearing of a clutch of petitions challenging the notice dated January 13, issued by the National Board of Examinations in Medical Sciences, reducing the qualifying cut-off percentiles.
The bench raised eyebrows at the performance of the doctors. The bench orally remarked that it was “stunned to see why this method was adopted”. “These are all regular doctors,” it said. The issue, it said, involved competing considerations which are required to be balanced.
“On the 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 candidates are not coming so please reduce the cut off,” the bench remarked. “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 said that it will examine whether the decision taken was wrong. It added that the “court’s conscience has to be satisfied that there is no devious reason”. The notice reduced the minimum qualifying percentile cut-off for counselling of the third round of NEET-PG 2025-26 for various categories.
