Supreme Court to NBE: “Explain Zero Percentile Cut-Off”; Notices Issued on NEET PG Plea

In a hearing held yesterday, February 6, 2026, a Supreme Court bench comprising Justice P.S. Narasimha and Justice Alok Aradhe issued a stern notice to the National Board of Examinations (NBE) and the Centre, questioning the rationale behind reducing the NEET PG 2025 qualifying cut-off to “zero and negative” percentiles.

The bench remarked that it was “stunned” to see such a drastic lowering of standards, explicitly stating that the court must be satisfied that this decision was not taken for any “devious reason”, a subtle reference to the allegation that this was done solely to fill expensive seats in private medical colleges rather than for academic merit.

The petitioners, represented by Senior Advocate Gopal Sankarnarayanan, argued that the NBE’s January 13 notification violates Article 14 (Right to Equality) and Article 21 (Right to Life/Patient Safety). He pointed out the absurdity of the new benchmarks, noting that candidates with scores as low as minus 40 are now eligible for specialized medical training.

He argued that while the government aims to prevent “seat wastage,” this cannot come at the cost of patient safety, as “merit cannot be reduced to zero” in a field dealing with human lives. The petitioners termed the exam a “mere administrative formality” if virtually everyone qualifies.

The Court acknowledged the government’s dilemma, balancing the need to fill vacant seats (to prevent resource wastage) against maintaining high standards. However, Justice Narasimha emphasized that a balance must be found, asking, “Is this for health or wealth?”

The bench has directed the NBE and the Ministry of Health to file a detailed affidavit explaining the scientific or logical basis for choosing such low percentiles (7th for General, 0th for Reserved) and has listed the matter for a further hearing in two weeks.

1 min read February 7, 2026