New Delhi, Aug 19: The Supreme Court on Wednesday stressed the need to institutionalise and strengthen the National Testing Agency (NTA), saying the agency must have adequate infrastructure, experienced manpower and advanced technology to prevent question paper leaks and ensure examinations are conducted smoothly.
Bar and Bench reported that the Bench of Justices P S Narasimha and Alok Aradhe, hearing petitions arising from the NEET question paper leak controversy, said the court was concerned with building a “vibrant institution” that could retain institutional expertise and keep pace with technological changes.
“Our duty is to ensure that there is a vibrant institution that the country can be proud of. If you don’t institutionalise, experienced people get transferred and the entire experience is lost. There are a lot of technological changes that have to be brought about,” the Bench observed.
The court directed the Centre to file an affidavit detailing the progress made in implementing the recommendations of the Radhakrishnan Committee, constituted after the NEET-UG controversy in 2024, as well as reforms suggested by the Nandan Nilekani Committee this year.
The Bench said its concern was not merely about the existing safeguards but about creating a permanent institutional framework for conducting examinations.
“Our concern is how you institutionalise the conduct of the examination – secure office premises, confidential operational infrastructure, cyber security,” the court said.
It also referred to recommendations for creating specialised verticals for testing centres, central network operations and other functions, besides developing research and development infrastructure, a sovereign database, and stronger cybersecurity mechanisms.
The court emphasised the need to preserve “institutional memory” and “institutional expertise”, noting that examination systems and technology keep changing.
Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, appearing for the Centre, told the Bench that several safeguards had already been introduced to “iron-fence” the examination process.
He explained that question papers undergo multiple stages of moderation and selection, are printed under CCTV and CISF surveillance, transported in GPS-tracked vehicles and stored in secure bank strong rooms.
The Solicitor General said the process involved sealed question-paper boxes, strict access controls and videography at various stages, with question papers opened only immediately before examinations.
The petitions before the court include pleas seeking restructuring or replacement of the NTA, shifting NEET-UG to a computer-based test (CBT) format, digital locking of question papers and publication of centre-wise results to identify anomalies. One of the petitions has also sought the creation of an independent statutory national testing authority with greater oversight and parliamentary accountability.
The Supreme Court had dealt with allegations of a NEET-UG paper leak in 2024 and declined to order a nationwide re-examination, while directing reforms in the examination system.
The issue has again come under judicial scrutiny following fresh concerns over examination security.
The court has now directed the Centre to file a detailed affidavit on the steps taken to implement the committee recommendations.
The matter will be heard again after three weeks.
