Doctors’ body calls for dissolution of NTA, files plea in Supreme Court
Protest against National Testing Agency at Jantar Mantar in Delhi. (PTI photo)
New Delhi: United Doctors Front (UDF) has contacted Supreme Court of India The National Testing Agency (NTA) is seeking dissolution in its current form following the alleged NEET-UG 2026 paper leak controversy and the subsequent cancellation of the medical entrance exam.Filed under Article 32 of the Constitution, the registered doctors’ association’s petition alleged a “systematic and catastrophic failure” in the conduct of NEET-UG 2026 and called for sweeping reforms in India’s examination system.The petition, filed through advocate-on-record Ritu Reniwal along with lawyer Mahendra Kumawat, seeks a direction to the central government to dissolve the NTA as it currently exists under the Societies Registration Act, 1860 and replace it with a statutory national examination authority created through an Act of Parliament.It urged the court to direct the Center to enact a law to establish an independent examination body with clearly defined legal powers, protection of transparency and direct accountability to Parliament. The petition also demanded formation of a court-supervised committee to oversee the conduct of the upcoming national examination and called it “zero-leak integrity”.According to the petition, the NEET-UG 2026, held on May 3 for around 22.7 lakh candidates, was allegedly compromised by an organized “assumption letter” racket which was circulated through WhatsApp and Telegram groups across various states. Citing investigations by the Rajasthan Special Operations Group (SOG) and the subsequent CBI FIR, the petition argued that the integrity of the examination was compromised at a systemic level.The petition alleged that despite safeguards like biometric verification, GPS tracking and AI-assisted CCTV surveillance, exam-related material was leaked around 42 hours before the exam. It contends that the eventual cancellation of NEET-UG 2026 effectively amounted to an admission by the authorities that genuine candidates could no longer be distinguished from those who benefited from the leak.The UDF has argued that the NTA’s status as a registered society has created an “accountability vacuum”, claiming that it cannot be directly accountable to Parliament to constitutional or statutory bodies such as the Union Public Service Commission or the Staff Selection Commission.The petition also claimed that the repeated examination leak undermined merit-based selection and violated Articles 14 and 21 of the Constitution by causing serious emotional distress and uncertainty among students.The petition also referred to observations made by the Supreme Court in 2024 NEET Controversy, K. With the recommendations of the Radhakrishnan Committee, which reportedly calls for stronger security, less outsourcing and a gradual shift towards computer-based testing.
