SC seeks explanation from NBEMS on NEET-PG cut-off cut

The Supreme Court directed NBEMS to explain its sharp reduction of NEET-PG 2025-26 cut-off percentiles, noting the need to balance vacant seats and academic standards. Petitioners argued the move dilutes quality and violates constitutional rights

New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Friday directed the National Board of Examination in Medical Sciences (NBEMS) to explain its decision to drastically reduce the qualifying cut-off percentiles for NEET-PG 2025-26.

A bench of Justices P S Narasimha and Alok Aradhe asked NBEMS to file an affidavit and posted the matter for hearing after two weeks.

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Observing the need to strike a balance between filling vacant seats and maintaining academic standards, the bench said, “On one hand, seats should not go waste. On the other, there is pressure to reduce cut-offs due to low turnout. Lowering standards is also a concern. Somewhere, there has to be a balance.”

During the hearing, senior advocate Gopal Sankaranarayanan, appearing for the petitioners, submitted that marks in postgraduate admissions cannot be relaxed except in exceptional circumstances. He stressed that standards must be stricter at the PG level.

The apex court had on February 4 issued notices to the Union of India, NBEMS, the National Medical Commission and others in the matter.

With over 18,000 postgraduate medical seats remaining vacant across the country, NBEMS revised the qualifying percentiles for NEET-PG 2025 admissions. The cut-off for reserved categories was reduced to zero from 40 percentile, allowing even candidates scoring as low as minus 40 out of 800 to participate in the third round of counselling.

For the general category, the cut-off was lowered to seven percentile from 50, according to an NBEMS notice.

The court was hearing a plea filed by social worker Harisharan Devgan and doctors Saurav Kumar, Lakshya Mittal and Akash Soni, who argued that the reduction violates Articles 14 and 21 of the Constitution.

The petition contended that eligibility criteria cannot be altered after the selection process has begun, as aspirants prepare and make career choices based on originally notified cut-offs. It also stated that postgraduate medical education should not be treated as a commercial exercise and that authorities must prevent dilution of standards.

Several sections of the medical community have termed NBEMS’s decision “unprecedented and illogical.”