Noting that the National Testing Agency (NTA) was already faced with too many problems, the Supreme Court on Monday refused to accept a plea seeking direction to conduct the NEET-UG retest on June 21 in computer-based test (CBT) mode instead of the current pen and paper method.“Similar matters, we have dismissed already,” a Bench of Justices PS Narasimha and Aravind Kumar told the counsel for petitioner RJD MP Sudhakar Singh and others and posted the matter for further hearing on July 27.“There is no question of conducting the re-examination in CBT mode. They (NTA) are already having too many problems. The examination was cancelled and now it’s being re-conducted. Either we dismiss this petition now or after the vacation,” the Bench told advocate Satyam Singh Rajput, who represented the petitioners.The comments from the Bench came after Rajput said the petitioners only wanted the retest to be conducted in CBT mode.On May 12, the NTA cancelled the 2026 National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test (Undergraduate) for medical admissions held on May 3 following allegations of paper leak and rescheduled it to June 21.The NEET paper leak case has since been handed over to the CBI, which has arrested at least 11 accused from Delhi, Gurugram, Jaipur, Nashik, Pune and a few other places.In an affidavit filed in the top court, the NTA had last week said that it’s all set to conduct the NEET-UG exam in CBT mode from next year.Among the major NTA examinations, only NEET-UG 2026 was conducted in the pen-and-paper mode, primarily according to the scheme of the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare and the National Medical Commission, it had said.Terming it “very traumatic” for students and their families, the Supreme Court had on May 29 called for fixing accountability in the NEET paper leak case even as the Centre said Prime Minister Narendra Modi was personally monitoring the situation. “The Prime Minister is personally monitoring it and some new mechanisms have been put in place for the NEET-UG retest on June 21,” Solicitor General Tushar Mehta had said.J’khand girl ends life over cancellationA 17-year-old NEET aspirant was found dead in Jharkhand’s Koderma district, following which her family claimed that she took her life as she was upset with the medical entrance test being cancelled. The girl’s father said she had appeared for the NEET-UG on May 3 and had been optimistic about her performance. She was worried that the retest would be more challenging, he said. PTIHowever, the Bench had said, “The real problem won’t stop till actual accountability arises. Not in terms of so and so will be liable, it will be effective when we know which individual shoulders the responsibility. Unless you identify the specific duty bearers, it will be difficult.”“The UPSC has never been in such a situation… You need to learn… We should not disappoint our youngsters,” Justice Narasimha had said, adding the NTA should learn from other bodies such as the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC), which has been conducting the prestigious Civil Services Examinations without any paper leak for decades.Asking the Centre to file an affidavit in the matter, the Bench had posted petitions seeking a direction to replace the NTA with a robust and autonomous body to conduct the medical entrance examination for further hearing in the second week of July after summer vacation.The petitioners have demanded structural and technological reforms, including mandatory “digital locking” of question papers and a transition to CBT model to eliminate risks associated with the physical handling and transportation of examination materials. While hearing petitions filed by Federation of All India Medical Association and United Doctor’s Front, the Bench had on May 25 pulled up the NTA for not having learnt lessons from earlier NEET paper leaks.