On Monday, the Supreme Court agreed to hear a petition challenging the decision of the National Board of Examinations (NBE) to conduct the NEET-PG 2025 exam in two separate shifts.

The National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test for Postgraduate courses (NEET-PG) is scheduled for June 15 and will be held in two shifts via computer-based testing. The results are expected to be announced by July 15.

A bench comprising Chief Justice B.R. Gavai and Justice Augustine George Masih acknowledged the urgency of the matter after it was raised by the petitioner's counsel. The bench assured that the plea would be listed for hearing shortly.

The counsel reminded the court that the bench had previously stated—on May 23—that the matter would be taken up the following week, but it had not been listed. "The bench said it would list the matter this week. It is extremely urgent. The admit cards are set to be issued on June 2," the lawyer emphasized.

Responding to the urgency, the Chief Justice assured that the matter would be listed within a day or two.

Earlier, on May 5, the Court had sought responses from the National Board of Examinations (NBE), the National Medical Commission, and the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare regarding the plea.

The petition, filed by Aditi and others, challenges the two-shift format of the NEET-PG exam, arguing that it could result in unfairness due to potential variations in difficulty levels between the shifts. The petitioners have requested the Court to direct the NBE to conduct the examination in a single shift to ensure a "just, fair, reasonable, and equitable" competitive environment for all candidates.

The development comes soon after the Supreme Court issued a judgment aimed at curbing seat-blocking in NEET-PG counselling. The Court had also directed authorities to publish raw scores, answer keys, and the normalisation formula used in the examination.