The Supreme Court of India has asked the National Board of Examination in Medical Sciences (NBEMS) to file an affidavit explaining the rationale behind its decision to sharply reduce the qualifying cut-off percentiles for NEET PG 2025.
A bench comprising Justice Pamidighantam Sri Narasimha and Justice Alok Aradhe was hearing petitions challenging the NBEMS notice dated January 13, 2026, which lowered the minimum qualifying percentile for candidates participating in the third round of NEET PG 2025 counselling.
The Court’s Observations: Balancing Seats and Standards
During the hearing, Justice Narasimha highlighted the competing considerations involved in the issue. On one hand, the authorities aim to ensure that postgraduate medical seats do not go vacant; on the other, there is concern that excessively lowering the cut-off may dilute academic and professional standards.
The bench observed that while preventing wastage of seats is a legitimate concern, the Court must be satisfied that the decision is not “drastically wrong” or driven by any improper motive. Emphasising judicial restraint, Justice Narasimha remarked that the Court’s conscience must be assured that there is no “devious reason” behind such a significant policy shift.
Details of the NEET PG 2025 Cut-off Reduction
The impugned NBEMS notice brought down qualifying thresholds to unprecedented levels:
- General/EWS: from the 50th percentile (276/800 marks) to the 7th percentile (103 marks)
- General PwBD: from the 45th percentile (255 marks) to the 5th percentile (90 marks)
- SC/ST/OBC (including PwBD): from the 40th percentile (235 marks) to the 0th percentile (–40 marks)
The reduction to zero and even negative marks has triggered widespread concern among medical professionals and aspirants.
Petitioners’ Argument: Enough Candidates, No Justification
Appearing for the petitioners, Senior Advocate Gopal Sankarnarayanan relied on existing regulations which permit lowering of minimum qualifying marks only when a sufficient number of candidates are not available in a particular category. He argued that this condition was not met in the present case.
According to submissions before the Court, while approximately 80,000 postgraduate seats are available, more than 1.28 lakh candidates already fall within the original qualifying percentiles (50th, 45th and 40th). On this basis, Sankarnarayanan contended that there was no justification to reduce the cut-off so drastically. He sharply criticised the reduction to negative marks, remarking that such a standard would paradoxically place even non-serious candidates in a better position.
Higher Standards for Higher Medical Education
The petitioners further stressed that postgraduate medical education demands stricter, not diluted, standards. They argued that lowering the qualifying benchmark undermines patient safety, public health, and the credibility of the medical profession. The plea also asserts that such dilution runs contrary to the objectives and statutory mandate of the National Medical Commission Act, 2019, which seeks to ensure quality and uniform standards in medical education.
Constitutional Concerns Raised
The petitions allege that the January 13 notification on NEET PG 2025 is arbitrary and violates Articles 14 and 21 of the Constitution, which guarantee equality before law and the right to life. According to the petitioners, compromising merit at the postgraduate level directly affects the quality of healthcare delivered to the public.
What Lies Ahead
The Supreme Court has now directed NBEMS to place on record an affidavit detailing the reasons and data that led to the decision to reduce the qualifying percentile of NEET PG 2025. The Court will subsequently examine whether the decision meets the test of reasonableness and whether it strikes an acceptable balance between filling seats and maintaining academic and professional standards.
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