The Supreme Court on Friday granted extension to the National Board of Examination (NBE) for holding the NEET-PG examination on August 3, 2025. The exam was initially scheduled to be held on June 15 this year.
A bench of Justices Prashant Kumar Mishra and Augustine George Masih clarified that no further extension will be granted to NBE in this regard.
“We are satisfied that the prayer for extension of time is bona fide. Accordingly, the time allowed by our dated May 30, for holding the examination is extended”, the Court said in its order.
On May 30, the Supreme Court ordered that the NEET PG examination be held only in a single shift. Subsequently, the NBE moved an application in the top court seeking an extension of time to reschedule the examination on a later date, as fresh arrangements would have to be made to comply with the single-shift order.
The bench had rejected the decision of NBE to hold the exam in two shifts, saying it creates “arbitrariness”.
The bench had also stated that it will be open for NBE to apply for extension of time if they find that the arrangements can’t be done by 15 June, the scheduled date of the exam.
During the hearing today, counsels appearing for the NBE and the Centre stated that fresh steps need to be taken to make arrangements for holding the exam in a single shift.
“The total strength of candidates appearing for the exam is two lakhs 50 thousand, and there are only 450 centres. So we need to ensure that more centres are made available and security parameters are put in place,” the counsel argued.
He further argued that time is needed for giving opportunities to the candidates to choose centres according to their locations, now that the examination is being held in a single shift.
After hearing the submissions, the Court allowed the NBE to conduct the examination on an extended time of August 3. (ANI)
