Institutionalise NTA & introduce tech changes: Supreme Court

New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Wednesday underlined the need to "institutionalise" the National Testing Agency (NTA) and introduce requisite "technological changes" to make it more robust and prevent question paper leaks in future.

A bench of justices PS Narasimha and Alok Aradhe said the court was duty-bound to ensure that NTA functions as a vibrant institution.

The observations came during the resumed hearing of a clutch of petitions, including one filed by the Federation of All India Medical Association (FAIMA) seeking restructuring of NTA.


"Our duty is to ensure that there is a vibrant institution that the country can be proud of. If you don't institutionalise, experienced people get transferred and the entire experience is lost. There are a lot of technological changes that have to be brought about," the bench orally observed.

The bench directed the Centre to file an affidavit indicating the progress made and steps taken to implement the recommendations of the Radhakrishnan committee and the Nandan Nilekani committee.

The Radhakrishnan committee was a high-level panel set up in 2024 after a question paper leak in the NEET-UG exam that year. It made several recommendations to strengthen the mechanism for conducting entrance examinations.

The Nandan Nilekani committee was set up by the Centre this year to explore and recommend reforms for conducting competitive examinations in India.

In its order, the bench said it had conveyed to solicitor general Tushar Mehta that the court was concerned with the institutionalisation of NTA. "With all infrastructure, manpower, technological requirements etc., we have been informed that Nandan Nilekani committee has recommended reforms relating to AI, blockchain etc. We are concerned about institutionalisation of NTA," the bench said.

The bench directed the Centre to file an affidavit on the steps being taken to implement the recommendations of the Radhakrishnan committee as nuanced by the Nilekani committee.