Supreme Court directs NBE to hold NEET-PG in single shift

NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Friday directed the National Board of Examination (NBE) to hold the National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test for Postgraduate courses (NEET-PG) 2025 in a single shift.

A vacation bench of Justices Vikram Nath, Sanjay Kumar and N K Anjaria rejected the decision of NBE to hold the exam in two shifts, saying it creates “arbitrariness”. The bench said it will be open for NBE to apply for extension of time if they find that the arrangements can’t be done by June 15, the scheduled date of exam.

“Holding the exam in two shifts leads to arbitrariness and cannot give a level playing field. The question papers in the two shifts can never be of the same difficulty level… The examining body ought to have considered making arrangements for holding the examination in one shift”, the order stated.

As the counsel of NBE said that to hold exam in one shift, 900 extra centres will have to be arranged, which is not possible before June 15, the bench said, “We are not ready to accept that in the entire country, and considering the technological advancements in this country, the examining body could not find enough centres to hold the examination and one shift”.

The counsel further said that NBE has even very limited centres to hold exam in one shift. “Infrastructure for Wi-Fi, good computers, safety, security, etc., all possible problems have been considered and then this solution (of two shift) has been given”, added the counsel.

The counsel said that out of over 2.5 lakh candidates, only a handful of them have approached the court against the NBE decision to hold exam in two shifts. The top court was hearing petitions challenging the conduct of NEET-PG 2025 in two-shifts. (ANI)