Overview

• A three-judge bench led by Justice Vikram Nath overruled the NBE’s two-shift plan and directed NEET-PG 2025 to be held in one session on June 15.
• The court held that separate question papers inherently differ in difficulty and that a multi-shift format creates arbitrariness undermining equality among candidates.
• The NBE had argued that limited online exam centres and security concerns made a single shift impractical, but the bench said existing infrastructure can accommodate all test-takers at once.
• With more than two weeks before the exam, the Supreme Court instructed the NBE to identify additional secure centres, maintain full transparency and seek an extension if needed.
• The order followed petitions invoking candidates’ right to equality under Article 14, a move welcomed by medical aspirants anxious about fair assessment.