New Delhi: The Supreme Court of India has asked the National Board of Examinations in Medical Sciences (NBEMS) to explain why actual questions and answer keys of the NEET-PG examination should not be disclosed to candidates after the examination. On November 2, 2026, the Court directed NBEMS to file written submissions explaining how releasing the questions could affect the fairness and security of the postgraduate medical entrance examination.
The development has brought the issue of transparency in NEET-PG examinations back into focus, as medical aspirants seek a better way to verify their answers, marks and results.
NEET PG 2026: What Happened In The Supreme Court Hearing
A Supreme Court bench comprising Justice P.S. Narasimha and Justice Alok Aradhe were hearing a petition filed by the Democratic Medical Association.
Read also: Why The Supreme Court Called India’s Criminal Justice System A ‘Wounded Republic’
The petition challenges the way NBEMS provides question-wise answer details and candidate responses after the NEET-PG examination.
The petitioners want NBEMS to upload the actual question paper, answer options, official answer key and individual response sheets through candidates’ login accounts. The Supreme Court had issued notice on the petition on October 15, 2026.
During the November 2 hearing, Senior Advocate Shikhil Suri, appearing for the petitioners, argued that NBEMS had disclosed the master question set and answers but had not provided the actual questions corresponding to the question IDs shown to candidates.
He questioned whether candidates could properly check their answers without seeing the questions they had attempted.
Why Is NBEMS Not Disclosing Actual NEET PG 2026 Questions
During the hearing, the counsel appearing for NBEMS explained why the examination body does not want to release the complete question papers.
According to NBEMS, the question bank for postgraduate medical examinations is limited and valuable. It considers this question bank a national asset that needs protection.
The counsel explained that candidates receive different question papers because the questions and answer options are shuffled.
NBEMS currently provides question IDs, the status of responses, the correct answer IDs and the answers selected by candidates. However, it does not disclose the actual text of the questions.
NBEMS argued that releasing the questions every year could allow coaching institutes and other organisations to collect them and prepare similar question papers.
It also said that medical science questions are difficult to replace because creating good-quality questions requires subject experts from across the country.
The examination body believes that repeated disclosure could reduce the availability of suitable questions and affect the quality of future examinations.
NEET PG 2026: Supreme Court Questions NBEMS On Transparency
During the hearing, Justice P.S. Narasimha raised concerns about transparency in the examination process. When the NBEMS counsel explained its policy of keeping questions confidential, the judge questioned how such a policy could be justified when candidates wanted to verify their examination results.
Justice Narasimha also referred to the fact that previous years’ NEET-PG question papers were reportedly available for sale on Amazon.
This raised further questions about the reason for keeping the official question papers confidential.
The judge also questioned NBEMS’s argument that other countries follow similar examination practices. He observed that practices followed in other countries cannot automatically become a model for India.
The Court asked NBEMS to provide a more detailed explanation of why NEET-PG should follow a different approach from other examinations where questions are disclosed.
What Has The Supreme Court Ordered NBEMS To Do
The Supreme Court has directed the National Board of Examinations in Medical Sciences to file written submissions explaining why disclosure of NEET-PG questions could affect the integrity of postgraduate medical examinations.
The Court’s direction is focused on understanding the examination body’s reasons for keeping actual questions confidential.
The relevant direction states:
“The National Board of Examinations in Medical Sciences (NBEMS) shall file written submissions explaining why disclosure of questions may not compromise the integrity for upholding the exams for postgraduate NEET.”
The matter was adjourned to allow NBEMS to provide its detailed explanation. Importantly, the Supreme Court has not ordered NBEMS to release the complete question papers at this stage. The issue of disclosure remains under consideration.
What Are NEET-PG Candidates Demanding
The petitioners want a more transparent examination evaluation system. They argue that candidates should be able to see exactly what questions were presented to them and how their answers were evaluated. Their major demands include:
- Actual Question Papers: Candidates should receive the complete questions they attempted during the examination.
- Complete Answer Options: All four options should be displayed in the same order in which candidates saw them.
- Official Answer Keys: NBEMS should provide the correct answers corresponding to each actual question.
- Individual Response Sheets: Candidates should be able to access their recorded responses.
- Question-Wise Marks: The marks awarded for every question should be clearly displayed.
- Objection Facility: Candidates should receive a reasonable time period to challenge incorrect or confusing questions.
- Score Correction: If any evaluation error is established, the examination authority should correct the affected marks and ranks.
The petitioners also want these records to be available in downloadable formats such as PDF or CSV. Their main argument is that question IDs and numerical answer IDs alone are not enough to verify whether the examination has been evaluated correctly.
Earlier Supreme Court Proceedings On NEET-PG Transparency
The issue of transparency in NEET-PG examinations has been raised before the Supreme Court in earlier proceedings as well.
In January 2026, the Supreme Court questioned the logic behind NBEMS’s policy of not disclosing actual NEET-PG questions and answer keys.
The Court was not fully convinced by the examination body’s explanation and sought further justification.
NBEMS had earlier explained that its non-disclosure policy was based on recommendations made by an expert committee in 2012.
The committee had recommended maintaining the confidentiality of examination questions to protect the question bank and prevent their misuse. In addition, the Supreme Court’s April 29, 2025 directions concerning transparency in NEET-PG included the publication of raw scores, answer keys and normalisation details.
NBEMS subsequently introduced a system through which candidates could access their question-wise responses and answer details. However, the latest petition argues that this system still does not provide enough information for candidates to independently verify the actual questions and answer options.
Read also: This Supreme Court Observation Could Redefine How Public Office Is Viewed In India
FAQs
The Supreme Court has not ordered NBEMS to release the actual NEET-PG 2026 question paper yet. It has only directed the examination body to submit written explanations about its non-disclosure policy.
The Supreme Court wants NBEMS to explain why releasing actual NEET-PG questions and answer keys could affect examination integrity. The Court is examining whether the current disclosure system provides enough transparency to candidates.
NBEMS provides question IDs, response status, correct answer IDs, candidates’ recorded responses and marks awarded for individual questions. However, the actual questions and complete answer options are not disclosed through this system.
