The Supreme Court on Friday asked the Centre to put an end to the "series of errors" surrounding the NEET-UG examination and sought details on its roadmap to shift the examination completely to a computer-based mode, saying it would monitor the issue closely.
A Bench of Justices P.S. Narasimha and Alok Aradhe, while hearing matters related to the alleged NEET paper leak, directed the Centre to explain its plans for transitioning to online examinations and protecting data during the process.
"Please tell us what you are doing to shift completely to an online mode. Please tell us how you will protect data when we shift to computer-based testing... We will see to it that everything is institutionalised," the Bench said.
The court also told the Centre that it would closely monitor the issue and follow up on the reforms regularly.
"We cannot let this go on like this," the Bench observed.
Responding to the court, Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, appearing for the Centre, said the government was "going 10 extra miles" to address students' concerns and sought more time to place a holistic plan before the court.
The matter has now been listed for further hearing on August 3.
The hearing comes amid continuing protests at Delhi's Jantar Mantar led by the Cockroach Janta Party (CJP), which has been demanding the resignation of Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan over the alleged NEET-UG paper leak.
Earlier this week, clashes broke out during the CJP's 'Chalo Sansad' march towards Parliament, leaving both protesters and police personnel injured. Delhi Police used tear gas and carried out a baton charge to disperse protesters. While demonstrators alleged excessive use of force, the police maintained that they acted with restraint to maintain law and order.
Activist Sonam Wangchuk, who had been on a hunger strike since June 28 demanding Pradhan's resignation, ended his 26-day fast on Friday after being assured of government intervention. Wangchuk had been shifted to Gurugram's Medanta Hospital after the Delhi High Court allowed his transfer from Safdarjung Hospital following concerns over his deteriorating health.
Meanwhile, Chief Justice of India Surya Kant on Friday clarified that media reports claiming he had refused to list a petition relating to alleged police action against student protesters were "completely false".
Making the clarification in open court, the CJI said no writ petition had been filed before the Supreme Court and that only a letter representation had been submitted.
"In the last two days, a completely false statement was made that a matter was filed, and the media is absolutely free from all responsibility, falsely reporting that the Chief Justice refused to list the matter. Till morning 10 a.m., not a single page has been filed. It was one representation. How can I treat the representation as a writ petition? And people start recklessly reporting this," the CJI said.
He added that he had verified the position with the Supreme Court Registry before making the clarification.
"Some Mishra fellow mentioned it. The media has falsely reported that I refused to list the matter. It was only a representation and people started recklessly reporting it. I checked with the Registry and not a paper was filed," he said.
The clarification came two days after the Supreme Court declined to take suo motu cognisance of a letter representation alleging excessive police force during the student protests over the NEET-UG 2026 paper leak.
Earlier, when counsel sought an urgent hearing alleging police brutality, the CJI-led Bench had remarked, "Please don't waste our time and don't waste yours. Your time is more valuable than ours."
The lawyer had argued that the protesting students were seeking reforms in the National Testing Agency (NTA) and raising concerns over the fair conduct of the NEET examination. When counsel referred to videos purportedly showing police action, the Bench responded, "We are not interested in videos. We don't have time to watch," before declining urgent listing.
The letter representation, submitted by advocate Narendra Mishra, had sought the Supreme Court's suo motu intervention under Article 32 of the Constitution, alleging violations of fundamental rights during the handling of the protests. It also sought an investigation into allegations that unidentified persons in civilian clothes assaulted peaceful protesters in the presence of police personnel and requested preservation of electronic evidence, including drone footage, body-camera recordings, wireless logs and social media videos.
Meanwhile, the Centre reiterated its commitment to ensuring justice for students and safeguarding the integrity of public examinations.
Union Minister Dr Jitendra Singh said he, along with Union Health Minister J.P. Nadda, met Sonam Wangchuk at Medanta Hospital and assured him of constructive government intervention on the concerns raised by protesting students.
According to the government, it has assured a detailed discussion in Parliament on paper leaks and examination reforms, expressed a positive view on not registering cases against those who protested peacefully at Jantar Mantar and during the July 20 march to Parliament, and is also considering suitable compensation for the families of students who allegedly died by suicide following the recent NEET paper leak controversy.
