No More Two Shifts: SC Orders Single-Session NEET PG 2025

In a significant directive aimed at ensuring transparency and fairness, the Supreme Court on Friday ordered that the NEET-PG 2025 examination be conducted in a single shift across the country. This decision overrides the National Board of Examinations' (NBE) earlier plan to hold the test in two separate shifts.

The ruling was passed by a vacation bench comprising Justices Vikram Nath, Sanjay Kumar, and NK Anjaria, which stated that conducting the exam in two shifts could lead to inconsistencies and create an unfair playing field. The court pointed out that it is practically impossible for question papers in different shifts to be of identical difficulty levels, thereby introducing arbitrariness into the process.

"The question papers in the two shifts can never be of the same difficulty level... The examining body ought to have considered making arrangements for holding the examination in one shift," the bench noted in its order.

The court acknowledged the logistical challenges highlighted by the NBE, including the requirement for approximately 900 additional centres to accommodate the over 2.5 lakh aspirants in one shift. However, the bench was not convinced by the argument that such arrangements were unfeasible within the timeframe.

"We are not ready to accept that in the entire country, and considering the technological advancements in this country, the examining body could not find enough centres to hold the examination in one shift," the court stated.

The NBE's counsel argued that holding the exam in a single shift would require reliable infrastructure, including robust Wi-Fi, secure systems, and well-equipped computer centres. The counsel further noted that the current plan for two shifts was adopted after considering these technical and logistical hurdles.

Despite these explanations, the court sided with the petitioners who challenged the two-shift format, emphasizing that even if only a small number of candidates approached the court, the issue of fairness and standardization affected all candidates equally.

The bench has left the option open for the NBE to seek an extension of the scheduled June 15 date if it finds that conducting the exam in one shift by then is logistically unfeasible.

This decision by the apex court is expected to set a precedent for future examinations, reinforcing the importance of maintaining uniform standards and eliminating discrepancies in national-level competitive exams.