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

The National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test for Postgraduate courses is scheduled for June 15 and will be held in two computer-based shifts across centres in the country. The results are expected by July 15.

A bench of Chief Justice of India D Y Chandrachud, Justice B R Gavai, and Justice Augustine George Masih said the matter would be listed for hearing soon. The lawyer representing the petitioners reminded the court that the matter was supposed to be listed last week, as assured on May 23, but wasn’t.

The petitioners, including one Aditi and others, have argued that holding the exam in two shifts could lead to an unequal playing field due to possible differences in difficulty levels between the two sets of question papers. The plea has asked the court to direct the NBE to hold the exam in a single shift, ensuring fairness and equal opportunity for all candidates.

Earlier, on May 5, the Supreme Court had issued notices seeking responses from the NBE, the National Medical Council, and the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare on the issue.

In a related matter, the top court recently passed a verdict aimed at reforming NEET PG counselling. It ordered authorities to stop seat-blocking practices and directed that raw scores, answer keys, and the formula used for normalisation be made public for greater transparency.

The current petition raises fresh concerns about fairness in the NEET PG exam process, adding pressure on the authorities ahead of the exam date.

The outcome of the plea could impact lakhs of medical aspirants preparing to appear for the NEET PG 2025.