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During the hearing, Justice Narasimha addressed the challenge of avoiding vacant seats versus the pressure to lower the cut-off due to a shortage of candidates.
The Supreme Court ordered the NBE to explain their decision in an affidavit. (Image: PTI)
The Supreme Court on Friday directed the National Board of Examination in Medical Sciences (NBEMS) to submit an affidavit detailing their decision to lower the qualifying cut-off percentiles for NEET PG 2025-26 to minus 40 percentile. Justices PS Narasimha and Alok Aradhe reviewed petitions challenging NBEMS’s notice from January 13, which had reduced these cut-off thresholds.
During the hearing, Justice Narasimha highlighted the importance of balancing conflicting considerations. He addressed the challenge of avoiding vacant seats versus the pressure to lower the cut-off due to a shortage of candidates. The bench expressed their intent to examine the decision for any significant issues, ensuring their conscience remains clear of any ulterior motives.
“This is about standards. The question is whether those standards are being compromised,” the Court said, reported Bar and Bench.
“We were stunned to see why this method was adopted. These are all regular doctors,” the court added.
The Board has lowered the qualifying percentiles for NEET PG 2025 admissions. For reserved categories, the cut-off has been reduced to zero from 40 percentile, permitting candidates with scores as low as minus 40 out of 800 to join the third round of counselling for PG medical seats. The general category cut-off was reduced to seven percentile from 50.
Senior Advocate Gopal Sankarnarayanan, representing the petitioners, cited regulations that allow the Central Government, in consultation with the National Medical Commission, to lower the minimum marks if insufficient candidates qualify. He argued that with about 80,000 seats available and over 1,28,000 candidates meeting the qualifying percentiles, such a drastic reduction was unnecessary. He stressed that postgraduate standards should be higher, referring to the Preeti Srivastava judgment which supports stricter standards at advanced levels.
The plea, filed by social worker Harisharan Devgan and doctors Saurav Kumar, Lakshya Mittal, and Akash Soni, contends that the cut-off reduction violates Articles 14 and 21. It argues that eligibility criteria should not be changed after the selection process has begun and emphasizes that PG medical education should not be commercialised, urging regulatory authorities to uphold standards.
The Court has ordered the NBE to justify their decision in an affidavit.
February 06, 2026, 16:05 IST
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