New Delhi, February 6: The Supreme Court of India on Friday issued notice to the Centre on a plea challenging the decision of the National Board of Examinations in Medical Sciences (NBEMS) to sharply reduce the qualifying cutoff percentiles for NEET PG 2025-26.

A Bench of Justices PS Narasimha and Alok Aradhe observed that the issue directly concerns standards of medical education and examinations. “The question is whether those standards are being compromised,” the Court remarked, according to Bar and Bench. NBEMS Exam 2026 Dates: NEET PG and NEET MDS Exam Schedule Announced at natboard.edu.in, Check Examination Dates Here.

What Is The Case About

Last month, NBEMS revised the NEET PG cutoff to zero percentile for SC, ST and other reserved categories, reducing the minimum qualifying score to minus 40 from 235 out of 800. For general and EWS candidates, the cutoff was lowered from the 50th to the 7th percentile, while for general PwBD candidates it was reduced from the 45th to the 5th percentile. What Are UGC’s New Equity Regulations for Higher Education Institutions?

The move was challenged through a public interest litigation (PIL) filed by social worker Harisharan Devgan along with doctors Saurav Kumar, Lakshya Mittal and Akash Soni. The petitioners argue that the drastic reduction violates Article 14 and Article 21 of the Constitution and undermines merit in postgraduate medical education.

Petitioners’ Argument

Appearing for the petitioners, Senior Advocate Gopal Sankaranarayanan submitted that existing regulations fix the minimum qualifying standard at the 50th percentile, linked to the highest marks scored. “You cannot go all the way down to minus 40 percentile,” he argued, warning of risks to patient safety and public health.

Centre’s Stand

Additional Solicitor General Aishwarya Bhati told the Court that the revision was aimed at filling nearly 18,000 vacant postgraduate medical seats out of around 57,000 total seats across government and private colleges. The Bench, however, questioned the approach, remarking, “We were stunned to see why this method was adopted. These are all regular doctors.”

The matter will now be heard after the Centre files its detailed response.

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