Supreme Court stresses need to institutionalise NTA, seeks Centre’s affidavit on reforms to curb leaks

NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Wednesday reiterated the need to institutionalise the National Testing Agency (NTA) with secure infrastructure, dedicated testing centres, strong cyber-security systems, trained personnel and a permanent mechanism for examination operations to prevent future paper leaks.

A bench of Justices PS Narasimha and Alok Aradhe, hearing pleas concerning the NEET-UG 2026 paper leak, directed the Union Education Secretary to file an affidavit detailing steps taken to implement the K. Radhakrishnan Committee’s recommendations, as further developed by the Nandan Nilekani Committee.

The Court said the focus was not only on existing safeguards for question-paper preparation, printing, transportation and distribution, but on building a robust examination institution with institutional expertise and memory.

It sought details on the creation of secure infrastructure, cyber-security systems, testing centres, a permanent committee for sealing question papers, senior security officials, research and development facilities, and systems for securely storing examination data.

The Court stressed that frequent transfers of officials could result in the loss of institutional experience and said the NTA needed a permanent structure capable of adapting to technological changes.

The Radhakrishnan Committee, formed after the NEET-UG 2024 controversy, submitted 101 recommendations in October 2024 covering examination infrastructure, question-paper security, technology, manpower and institutional reforms. Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, appearing for the Centre and NTA, outlined existing safeguards, including multiple levels of question-paper moderation, CCTV-monitored printing, sealed and secured transportation, GPS tracking and storage of question papers in bank strong rooms.

The Court said these measures were already covered by the Radhakrishnan Committee’s recommendations and sought clarity on their institutional implementation.

The Court also questioned reliance on AI for translating question papers into Indian languages, while Mehta said the translation process currently involved human intervention. The matter will be listed after three weeks.(ANI)

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