E-Paper
NEET-PG to be held on Aug 3, Supreme Court accepts extension request
The NEET-PG exam will now be conducted from 9 am to 12.30 pm on August 3.
The Supreme Court on Friday permitted the National Board of Examinations in Medical Sciences (NBEMS) to reschedule the NEET-PG 2025 examination to August 3, following its earlier directive mandating that the exam be held in a single shift.
A vacation bench comprising Justices P.K. Mishra and A.G. Masih passed the order after NBEMS submitted an application citing its inability to conduct the examination in a single shift on the previously scheduled date of June 15.
Appearing on behalf of NBEMS, Advocate Kirtiman Singh informed the court that the Board had initially planned to conduct the online examination in two shifts, identifying 450 centres accordingly. However, adhering to the new single-shift directive required a substantial increase in secure examination centres equipped with uninterrupted Wi-Fi, hardware support, and power backup.
The Supreme Court’s May 30 order had struck down the two-shift format as “arbitrary.” Following that decision, NBEMS consulted its technical partner, Tata Consultancy Services Pvt. Ltd. (TCS), which advised that conducting the exam in a single shift would require identifying more than 1,000 suitable centres. Additionally, reopening the centre selection window for students and reissuing admit cards would further delay the process. Based on these constraints, TCS informed the Board that the earliest feasible date to conduct the exam would be August 3.
After reviewing the documents, the bench observed:
"Having gone through the papers, we are satisfied that the prayer for extension of time till August 3 is bona fide. Accordingly, the time allowed by our May 30 order to conduct NEET-PG 2025 is extended. The respondent is permitted to hold the examination on August 3."
The court, however, emphasized that no further extension would be granted.
Before passing the order, the bench had questioned whether the requested delay was excessive, expressing concern over its impact on the admission timeline.
"The period you are asking is too long. It would affect the admission process. Students have been preparing for this examination for a long time. Their admission will be delayed," the bench noted.
The court also referenced the letter from TCS, remarking that the agency had long been involved in exam coordination and should already be familiar with centre readiness.
"TCS knows each examination centre and their compliance status. They only need to identify and allocate the centres accordingly," the bench said.
At this juncture, Additional Solicitor General K.M. Nataraj, appearing for the Centre, informed the court that the decision to reschedule the exam to August 3 was taken after high-level consultations, considering all logistical and security aspects.
"There are practical difficulties in conducting the exam before this date. The number of centres needs to be doubled, and extensive security measures have to be arranged. Our objective is to eliminate any possibility of disruption," he said.
The court agreed, noting, "We also don’t want any problem to take place." Although the ASG offered to revisit the possibility of an earlier date, the bench ultimately concluded: "We are allowing you time till August 3."
The May 30 order had come in response to petitions filed by NEET-PG aspirants, who argued that conducting the exam in two shifts created unfairness. Last year, they said, the evening shift paper was reportedly easier than the morning one.
The court had ruled, "Having two shifts creates arbitrariness and does not allow students to take the examination at the same level. It is unfair to have two shifts. Any two examination papers will inevitably have variations."
NBEMS had defended the two-shift format as a safeguard against malpractice, citing the need for secured centres. It also said it was bound by the court's direction to follow the academic calendar and was initially reluctant to delay the exam. However, the bench had left open the option of seeking an extension, which led to the present application.
In its submission, NBEMS explained that conducting the exam on June 15 in a single shift was not feasible due to the scale involved—over 242,000 candidates across 250+ cities, requiring more than 1,000 fully equipped centres and over 60,000 personnel including commanding officers, system operators, network administrators, invigilators, and security staff.
TCS, in its report to NBEMS, added that over 2,000 local exam servers would need to be sourced, configured, and deployed, depending heavily on the hardware supply chain. It also provided detailed specifications for compliant test centres, including secure premises, compatible computer systems, three-tier power backup, robust network infrastructure, trained technical staff, anti-cheating mechanisms, and prior compliance with examination integrity protocols.
Based on past data, TCS estimated the need for over 1,000 centres. For example, NEET-PG 2022 had 849 centres for 206,541 candidates, and NEET-PG 2023 had 902 centres for 209,030 candidates—both held in single shifts. Last year marked the beginning of the two-shift format.
