Supreme Court plans NTA office visit over paper leaks, says ‘lessons from past not learnt’

The Supreme Court on Friday said it plans to visit the National Testing Agency (NTA) office to assess the facilities and manpower put in place as part of reforms following repeated examination irregularities, even as the Centre told the court that the high-powered task force (HPTF) headed by Infosys co-founder Nandan Nilekani is likely to submit its report by the end of this month.

A bench of justices PS Narasimha and Alok Aradhe also directed the joint secretary of the Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT), who is assisting the HPTF, to file an affidavit indicating the progress made by the committee. The court posted the matter for hearing after three weeks.

“We direct the joint secretary of Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT) who is assisting secretary to HPTF to file an affidavit indicating the progress made by the committee,” the bench said.

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Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, appearing for the Centre, told the court that the HPTF had made significant progress and held extensive consultations. “It is our expectation that by the end of this month, the Committee may come out with its report,” he said. Mehta also told the court that a permanent space had been provided for the NTA and its senior officers at Minto Road, with security provided by 39 CISF personnel. Recruitment is underway for domain specialists from the open market across technology, human resources, assessment R&D, test centres, candidate experience, information security, test security and vigilance, he said.

The bench said it would examine whether the new system was functioning effectively. “One of these days, we will come there and see whether the system is working or not and what are the facilities, manpower provided. The permanency of place and permanency of half of the staff is one aspect of institutionalisation. You must also have relations with other departments and authorities and ensure security of data,” it said.

The bench made the observations while hearing a batch of petitions seeking reforms in the NTA following the paper leak in the NEET-UG 2026 examination. It noted that lessons from the past appeared not to have been learnt, pointing to the comprehensive reforms suggested by a panel headed by ex-ISRO chairman K Radhakrishnan after a similar controversy in 2024.

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The court stressed that the focus should be on institutionalising the reforms. “The most important thing is institutionalisation. We had the K Radhakrishnan Committee and as on date, that committee’s report is all that we have. The translation of those recommendations and its implementation is to be ensured. We will see to it that the HPTF recommendations are implemented,” it said.

Mehta told the court that the government was working towards institutionalising the recommendations of the Radhakrishnan committee and that the Nilekani committee had also held consultations with Radhakrishnan.

Advocates Tanvi Dubey and Charu Mathur, appearing for the Federation of All India Medical Association and United Doctors Front, told the court that while current overhaul had brought civil servants into senior positions, the Radhakrishnan panel had proposed a Governing Board headed by a domain expert.

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The petitioners also urged the HPTF to set a fixed timeline for transitioning NEET from pen-and-paper mode to computer-based testing, saying NEET-2027 was only a few months away. Mehta said the HPTF was aware of the issue and had considered all suggestions received so far.