NEW DELHI, MAY 18 (PTI): Congress chief whip in the Rajya Sabha Jairam Ramesh on Monday moved a privilege notice against Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan for allegedly lowering the dignity of Parliament with remarks made at a press conference after the NEET-UG 2026 paper leak.
A parliamentary panel is also reviewing the implementation of reforms in the National Testing Agency (NTA) following the NEET-UG paper leak and has summoned NTA Chairperson Pradeep Kumar Joshi and other bureaucrats.
On May 21, the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Education, Women, Children, Youth and Sports will seek the views of top education ministry officials on the alleged paper leak and reforms in the NTA, which holds centralised admission tests to various undergraduate courses, according to a Rajya Sabha notice.
The panel, headed by Congress leader Digvijaya Singh, has summoned Vineet Joshi, Secretary, Department of Higher Education, Ministry of Education, and NTA Chairperson Pradeep Kumar Joshi.
In his notice submitted to Rajya Sabha Chairman C P Radhakrishnan, Ramesh said that during a press conference on May 15 after the cancellation of the NEET-UG exam, Pradhan made some “derogatory” remarks against a parliamentary committee, which “reveal his contempt for Parliament”. “I have given notice of a question of privilege under Rule 187 of the Rules of Procedure and Conduct of Business in the Council of States against the Union Minister of Education for having lowered the dignity of Parliament and Parliamentary Committees.
“He has made these outrageous remarks while presiding over the rot in the education ministry that is destroying the future of lakhs of youths across the country,” Ramesh said in an X post, sharing a copy of his notice. The Congress has already sought Pradhan’s sacking over his “failure” to prevent paper leak in the prestigious NEET-UG exam.
Ramesh said it is well established that any derogatory references to parliamentary committees or members of parliamentary committees constitute a “gross contempt” of such committees, which in turn constitutes contempt of the House.
“I, therefore, request that privilege proceedings be initiated against Shri Dharmendra Pradhan, Minister of Education, in this matter,” Ramesh said in his notice.
On May 15, 2026, Pradhan addressed a press conference in New Delhi on the paper leak issue, Ramesh said in the notice.
He said Pradhan was asked by mediapersons as to why his ministry had not implemented the recommendations made by the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Education in its report on the National Testing Agency.
“To this question, the minister responded as follows: ‘I will not comment on parliamentary standing committee red flags. I will speak about the High-Level Committee of Experts /Radhakrishnan Committee. The parliamentary standing committee has members from the opposition. They write things in a certain manner, you also know that. Hence, I won’t speak on the standing committee’,” Ramesh said.
The Congress leader said the Union education minister’s remarks were “outrageous”.
“They are highly derogatory and seek to malign parliamentarians, parliamentary committees and the Parliament of India. Parliamentary committees are an extension of the Parliament of India, and are rightly so referred to as mini-Parliament. Hence, the Executive’s accountability to the Legislature and its parliamentary committees is a fundamental tenet of India’s democratic polity.
“The minister’s impugned comments clearly indicate and reveal his contempt for Parliament, parliamentary committees, members of the parliamentary committee that are drawn from all political parties and India’s constitutional democracy itself,” the former Union minister said.
Ramesh said Pradhan has “deliberately lowered the stature and prestige of the institution of the standing committee simply because of its bipartisan nature”.
“The minister’s comments also tantamount to imputing dishonourable motives to members of parliamentary committees themselves,” he said.
“The above conduct of the Minister of Education constitutes a grave breach of privilege and contempt of the House. In fact, it is a perfect case of such breach of privilege and contempt and a fit case for action by you since the Standing Committee on Education is one of the eight standing committees of the Rajya Sabha,” he said.
The NTA earlier cancelled the National Eligibility cum Entrance Exam (Undergraduate) held on May 3 amid allegations of irregularities. Nearly 23 lakh candidates had registered for the test, which was administered by the NTA across the country.
Tuesday, May 19, 2026