Today, the Central government informed the Supreme Court that it has formed a high-level expert committee, headed by Infosys co-founder Nandan Nilekani, to recommend reforms in the way competitive examinations are conducted across the country.

Appearing for the Centre, Solicitor General Tushar Mehta told a Bench of Justices PS Narasimha and Justice Alok Aradhe that the government has taken the recent question paper leaks, including the NEET controversy, very seriously and has already set up an expert panel to improve the examination system.

"The Central government has taken a very serious view of the issue. A high-level committee has been constituted," Mehta told the Court.

Apart from Nandan Nilekani, the committee includes former ISRO Chairman S. Somanath, former Intelligence Bureau Director Tapan Deka, IIT Madras Director V. Kamakoti, former Union Education Secretary Anita Karwal, and logistics expert Amrit Lal Meena.

The Court was hearing a petition filed by Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) MP Sudhakar Singh, who has sought directions to conduct the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET) in a computer-based mode instead of the existing offline format.

The petition was filed after the Union government and the National Testing Agency (NTA) cancelled NEET-UG 2026, which was held on May 3, following allegations of a large-scale question paper leak.

During the hearing, the Bench observed that the petition raises important concerns.

"There are many petitions we have not entertained, but this one raises certain good issues," the Court remarked.

Solicitor General Mehta informed the Bench that several similar petitions are already pending before the Supreme Court and suggested that this matter be heard along with them.

The judges also raised concerns about the challenges involved in shifting from pen-and-paper exams to computer-based tests.

"When the transition occurs from physical conduct to online, what additional safeguards are needed? How will the database be secured?" Justice Narasimha asked.

Responding to the query, Mehta said that these are precisely the issues the expert committee led by Nandan Nilekani has been tasked to examine.

"That is why we have Mr. Nilekani. He is an expert on the subject," the Solicitor General said.

The Bench also noted that secure storage of examination data is another important concern. It decided to hear the petition along with other pending matters on August 3.

Similar petitions filed by the Federation of All India Medical Association (FAIMA) and the United Doctors Front are also pending before the Supreme Court.