Supreme Court To Hear NEET PG Petition Today: A Timeline Of Events So Far

The Supreme Court is set to hear a petition from NEET PG aspirants today regarding the transparency of the national entrance exam. Nineteen candidates have challenged the National Board of Examinations in Medical Sciences (NBEMS) over issues related to the provisional answer key, raw scores, and the normalization process used for results.

A bench led by Chief Justice DY Chandrachud had scheduled the hearing for September 27, but it was postponed because representatives from the Union of India did not appear. The Supreme Court initially heard the case on September 13, during which the Chief Justice noted that altering the exam format just three days prior was "very unusual." The court requested responses from the NBE and the Center within a week and rescheduled the hearing for September 27. On September 26, NBEMS submitted a brief reply along with an affidavit.

Many students have voiced concerns about sudden changes to the exam format, the normalisation of marks, and have called for the release of answer keys and question papers for the NEET-PG.

Timeline of NEET PG 2024 Events:

January - July 2024: The NBEMS announced the NEET PG exam date well in advance. Initially set for March 3, it was moved to July 7, then advanced to June 23.

April 2024: In response to an RTI, the board stated the exam was rescheduled due to the Rath Yatra festival.

May 2024: The NBE introduced mandatory time-bound sections in its MCQ-based entrance exam.

July 2024: The NEET PG exam was postponed to August 11 and scheduled in two shifts: the first from 9 am to 12:30 pm and the second from 3:30 pm to 7 pm.

July 31, 2024: NBEMS provided the exam city allotment link, prompting concerns from several ministers, including MP Shashi Tharoor, about the allocation of centers located up to 1,000 kilometers from candidates' preferred choices.

August 8, 2024: The NEET PG admit card was released just three days before the exam.

August 9, 2024: The Supreme Court rejected a plea to postpone the NEET PG exam, noting that last-minute changes would impact 200,000 candidates and their families.

August 10: The NMC issued exam day guidelines and decided to adopt the normalisation method previously used by AIIMS.

August 11: The NEET PG exam was conducted for 228,540 candidates at 416 centers, with 216,094 appearing in the exam.

August 23: NBE announced the results but did not provide cut-off details. Many candidates requested access to the answer key and their raw scores for clarification on the normalization method, although NBEMS typically does not disclose exam content.

September 13: The Supreme Court heard the petitions from 19 aspirants questioning the exam's transparency.

September 20: The court acknowledged the last-minute changes and asked for a response from NBE and the Union of India.

September 27: The court requested the presence of an additional solicitors general to assist in the matter.

October 4: The Supreme Court will resume the hearing today.