The Supreme Court of India on Monday said it would examine whether the steep reduction in the qualifying marks for NEET-PG 2025–26 has any impact on the standards of postgraduate medical education.

A Bench comprising Justices PS Narasimha and Alok Aradhe made the observation while hearing a batch of petitions challenging the lowering of the percentile cut-off for the current academic year.

"Adversely affecting the quality of education is what we are concerned about more than anything. It is about the quality. You will have to satisfy us that the reduction of the cutoff so drastically...will have little impact on the quality of education. Though you are justified in saying that this is not like entry into MBBS, this is like a post-graduation. It stands on a different footing because those who apply are already doctors. We will have to reflect on this issue," the top court said.

Additional Solicitor General of India Aishwarya Bhati, appearing for the Centre, referred to the reasoning in the government’s affidavit and submitted that the decision to lower the cut-off was taken in view of existing vacancies.

She argued that the examination does not assess minimum clinical competence, as candidates have already completed their MBBS degrees, and that NEET-PG is intended only to rank and filter candidates against a limited number of postgraduate seats.

Justice PS Narasimha observed that while the Union was justified in stating that NEET-PG is not an entry-level examination for MBBS and that candidates are already qualified doctors, the Court would still examine the impact of reducing the cut-off on academic standards. The matter has been listed for further hearing on March 24.

The petitioners have challenged the January 13 notice issued by the National Board of Examination in Medical Sciences (NBEMS), by which the minimum qualifying percentile cut-off for counselling for the third round of NEET-PG 2025–26 was lowered.

In an affidavit filed in the matter, the Director General of Health Services under the Union health ministry stated that the challenge relates to an academic and policy decision taken by competent statutory authorities under the National Medical Commission Act, 2019, in public interest and within the domain of expert regulation.

"It is respectfully submitted that the reduction of qualifying percentile NEET-PG is not unprecedented. Since the inception of NEET-PG in 2017 percentile reductions have been affected in appropriate circumstances to prevent seat wastage. In the academic year 2023 as well, the qualifying percentile was reduced to zero across categories. The present decision is thus consistent with the established policy and administrative practice," it said.

The Centre submitted that scores in the NEET-PG examination are based on relative performance and the design of the test, and therefore cannot be treated as determinative of a candidate’s clinical incompetence.

"It is pertinent to note that purpose of the NEET-PG is not to certify minimum competence which stands established by the MBBS qualification itself of the candidates but to generate an inter se merit list for allocation of limited postgraduate seats," it said.

The Centre submitted that eligibility to appear for NEET-PG requires candidates to hold a recognised MBBS degree and to have completed the compulsory rotating internship.

It further stated that for the 2025–26 academic session, around 70,000 postgraduate medical seats were available against a total of 2,24,029 candidates. Of these, 31,742 seats were under the All India Quota (AIQ) across various specialities. The Centre pointed out that even after the second round of counselling, 9,621 AIQ seats remained vacant.

"Out of these, 5,213 seats were vacant in Government medical colleges alone (including AIQ and DNB seats). This factual position conclusively demonstrates that the reduction of percentile was not undertaken to benefit private medical institutions, but to prevent large-scale vacancy of seats, including in Government institutions created through public expenditure," it said.

The government argued that it is a settled principle of law that courts ordinarily do not interfere with academic or policy decisions taken by expert bodies, unless such decisions are shown to be manifestly arbitrary, mala fide, or in violation of statutory or constitutional provisions.

Earlier, the National Board of Examination in Medical Sciences (NBEMS) informed the Supreme Court of India that an additional 95,913 candidates became eligible for NEET-PG 2025 counselling after the qualifying percentile cut-off was lowered.

As per the NBEMS notice, the NEET-PG cut-off for the general category was reduced from the 50th percentile to the seventh percentile. Petitions have been filed before the apex court by social worker Harisharan Devgan, and doctors Saurav Kumar, Lakshya Mittal, and Akash Soni, contending that the reduction in the cut-off violates Articles 14 and 21 of the Constitution.