Use of AI, IIT experts and changes in printing… What did the government say in the Supreme Court to stop rigging in NEET?

Hearing in the NEET paper leak case was held in the Supreme Court on Friday. In this, Solicitor General Tushar Mehta told the court that the committee led by former ISRO chairman has filed its report and reply in the court, on which the court said, if an incident like paper leak happens after the formation of a high-powered committee, then it means that either there was a deficiency in the recommendations or they were not implemented properly. If such an incident happens then it is very sad not only for the students but also for their families. Justice Narasimha asked, you can form a small monitoring committee and collaborate with major universities to accept such suggestions. On this SG Mehta said that some people from IIT. Justice Narasimha said, have full-time cooperation with some universities. Methods and ideas keep changing. For example, in the field of AI, we will coordinate with a university.

The bench of Justice PS Narasimha and Justice Alok Aradhe, while hearing the petitions, said that we should not disappoint our youth. At the same time, Solicitor General Tushar Mehta told the court that the government is serious about the concerns of the youth. Prime Minister Narendra Modi himself is keeping an eye on this situation, so that there is no flaw in it. Let us know what was said by the government, NTA and former ISRO chairman in the Supreme Court.

1. The Supreme Court told Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, this is a very sensitive matter. How did this happen? The truth should come out. Justice Narasimha said that until we fix the responsibility, you will not get the correct information. SG said that we are looking into the issues related to youth and the government is very serious about this.
2. Justice Narasimha said, there has never been any problem in UPSC, you have to understand this. On this SG said that railway examinations also. The Speaker did not say some things because the arrangements were already in place and we have made some new arrangements for the examination to be held on 21st, which is being monitored at the highest level.
3. The Supreme Court said, the problem of most of our institutions is ad-hocism. SG Tushar Mehta said that when the need arose to form the committee, I had told at various levels what check and balance measures had been taken to prevent tampering. I will explain in detail. Some new things have come to light. The committee has examined these, identified them and suggested some solutions.
4. The Supreme Court directed the Central Government to file an affidavit. On this, the SG told the court that an affidavit should be filed by the HRD Ministry on behalf of the Central Government. However, now the name of HRD Ministry is Ministry of Education.
5. Justice Narasimha asked, how did this failure happen? If this incident has happened despite there being a high-level committee, then either there is something wrong with the original recommendations themselves, or they have not been followed properly. On this, former ISRO Chairman Radhakrishnan said, we had suggested 35 recommendations for long term measures. At the same time, we had made 60 recommendations for short term measures. Most of these have been implemented.
6. At the same time, Radhakrishna said, we had recommended strengthening the NTA. On this, Justice Narasimha asked, was this not a discussion on the incident that had happened? Radhakrishna said, the question was about the tampering of the paper. Many measures have been implemented but I can assure you that these things have been taken full care of for the Re-NEET exam to be held next month.
7. Justice Narasimha asked, does the committee meet regularly? On this Radhakrishna said- Yes.
8. Justice Narasimha said, the problem is that most of the institutions are adhoc. This is seen everywhere in the entire country. In fact, the capability should not be in any individual but in the organization. We will keep a constant eye on this. On this, the SG said, last time when this question was raised regarding the formation of the committee, I had checked everything from the printing press to the level where a student gets the examination paper.
9. He told that some new things came to light during the investigation. The committee has identified those areas. They will be implemented in the upcoming examination. However, it may not be appropriate to tell these things publicly.
10. Justice Narasimha recorded in the order that the HRD Ministry will file an affidavit. It will tell you how and in what manner the examination process and completion will be conducted from now on.
11. NTA told the Supreme Court that it has made major reforms after the NEET-UG 2026 paper leak and cancellation of the exam. A high-level steering committee had reviewed the preparations for the exam in a meeting held on April 17. Comprehensive safety measures recommended before, during and after the exam. These included mandatory CCTV checks and securing of footage for at least 90 days, mock drills at examination centres, weather-based emergency planning, verification of power backup systems, emergency medical facilities and inspection of centers a week before the examination.
12. NTA said that the committee also recommended forensic analysis of CCTV footage after the examination. The steering committee will meet again after the conduct of NEET-UG 2026. So that it can be considered in consultation with the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare whether future NEET examinations should be conducted in Computer-Based Test (CBT) mode or continue in Pen-and-Paper Test (PPT) mode.