New Delhi: The National Board of Examinations in Medical Sciences (NBEMS) has told the Supreme Court that it had no role in the decision to reduce the qualifying percentile for NEET-PG 2025–26, stating that its mandate is limited to conducting the examination and publishing results as directed by competent authorities.

In an affidavit filed before the apex court, NBEMS said the petition challenging its January 13 notification on the revised NEET-PG 2025 cut-off is “not maintainable and deserves to be rejected”.

The Board clarified that it only conducts the NEET-PG examination in a fair and transparent manner, evaluates answer scripts and forwards the final results to the Medical Counselling Committee (MCC). It said decisions on qualifying percentile reduction fall exclusively within the domain of the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS), the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare and the National Medical Commission (NMC).

According to the affidavit, the Health Ministry, through a communication dated January 9, informed NBEMS that the qualifying percentile cut-off for the third round of NEET-PG 2025–26 counselling had been reduced and directed it to publish revised results. In compliance, NBEMS issued the January 13 notification and forwarded the updated results to the MCC the same day.

Revised NEET-PG 2025 qualifying percentile

Under the revised criteria:

  • The minimum qualifying percentile for Unreserved (UR) candidates was reduced to the 7th percentile (cut-off score 103 out of 800).
  • For UR-PwD candidates, it was reduced to the 5th percentile (90 marks).
  • For SC/ST/OBC candidates, the qualifying percentile was reduced to the 0th percentile, corresponding to a cut-off score of minus 40.

NBEMS informed the Supreme Court that 95,913 additional candidates became eligible for NEET-PG 2025 counselling following the cut-off reduction.

“From a perusal of the aforesaid table, it is ex facie apparent that pursuant to the lowering of the cut-off 95,913 additional candidates have now become eligible to participate in the counselling,” the affidavit stated.

The Board argued that any adverse order would directly affect these candidates, who are not parties to the present writ petition, and on that ground alone, the plea is liable to be dismissed.

Delhi High Court ruling cited

NBEMS also referred to the Delhi High Court’s January 21 judgment in Sanchit Seth vs NBEMS & Ors, which dismissed a similar challenge to the NEET-PG percentile reduction.

The High Court held that there was no arbitrariness in lowering the eligibility percentile and observed that concerns over patient safety and dilution of merit were unfounded and not supported by empirical evidence. It further noted that final admissions would still be based on merit and that expanding the eligible pool would help ensure optimal utilisation of postgraduate medical seats.

PIL challenges NEET-PG cut-off reduction

The Supreme Court had earlier issued notices to the Union government, NBEMS, NMC and MCC in response to a public interest litigation (PIL) seeking restoration of the original qualifying standards prescribed in the NEET-PG 2025 Information Bulletin.

The plea, filed by advocate Satyam Singh Rajput, contends that the reduction in NEET-PG 2025 qualifying percentile is arbitrary, unconstitutional and violative of Articles 14 and 21 of the Constitution. It argues that allowing candidates with zero or negative scores to enter postgraduate medical training compromises merit, professional competence and patient safety.

The petition also states that the “rules of the game” cannot be altered after the examination process has commenced and results declared, calling the move unprecedented in the context of national medical entrance examinations.

The matter is pending before the Supreme Court.

IANS