NEET-UG 2026 paper leak: CBI set to file final charge sheet within a week

The agency’s probe has established the alleged role of 13 people, including NTA-appointed subject experts, coaching centre operators, middlemen and candidates.

Published on: Oct 4, 2026, 06:35:44 IST

By Neeraj Chauhan

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The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) is set to file its second and final charge sheet in the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test-Undergraduate 2026 paper leak case within a week but is unlikely to implicate any official from the central government or the National Testing Agency (NTA), officers familiar with developments said.

People sit at the protest site at Jantar Mantar supporting the Cockroach Janata Party's (CJP) protest, over alleged examination irregularities and NEET paper leak. (Sathiya)

Probe establishes role of 13 individuals

The CBI probe has only been able to establish the role of 13 individuals — including NTA-appointed subject experts, coaching centre operators, middlemen and candidates — raising questions about the investigation into a leak that affected the future of millions of students and triggered the largest street protests in years.

“The agency will not implicate any government official - including the NTA office bearers - in its concluding charge sheet. Investigations into the circumstances surrounding the leak didn’t establish anyone else’s role beyond private individuals,” said one of the officers cited above.

“With this, our probe into the NEET-UG 2026 paper leak will be complete,” said a second officer.

Also read: Paper leak: NTA debars Latur coaching centre owner's son from NEET-UG exam for 2 years

NEET cancellation followed detection of common questions

On May 12, NTA announced the cancellation of the 2026 NEET test after at least 120 questions in a guess paper – a compilation made by subject experts and teachers of suggested questions, based on previous trends and patterns – were found to be common with the NEET exam paper on May 3. The leak was only detected a week after the exam was conducted, triggered massive protests in Parliament and eventually led to the resignation of then Union education minister Dharmendra Pradhan after millions of young people -- under the Cockroach Janata Party banner -- hit the streets.

“The NEET paper leak couldn’t have happened without the involvement of NTA and education ministry officials. NTA officials are the main culprits and must be punished,” said Shashank Maurya, who appeared in the exam on May 3 and the retest on June 21.

Also read: From AIPMT to NEET: A decade of paper leak scandals that shook India's education system

First charge sheet named 13 accused

The first charge sheet in the paper leak was filed on July 28, naming 13 accused persons including three NTA-appointed subject experts - Manisha Gurunath Mandhare for Botany and Zoology, Prahlad Vithalrao Kulkarni for Chemistry, and Manisha Sanjay Havaldar for Physics - among others.

CBI said then that it kept open the probe into the role of “other conspirators” to submit the experts’ opinion reports from the Central Forensic Science Laboratory (CFSL), Government Examiner of Questioned Documents (GEQD) and Delhi University experts.

The agency has since arrested three more individuals who were alleged beneficiaries of paper leaks through coaching centres.

“The roles of these three individuals, along with the findings of the forensic experts, will be detailed in the concluding charge sheet, which we will file within a week. A thorough investigation was conducted to ascertain whether any NTA official or other government official was involved in the leak, but no such involvement was found,” said a second officer.

The agency’s probe has established the alleged role of 13 people. (HT Graphics)

Government revamps NTA after paper leak

In recent months, the government announced massive changes in NTA. The Union education ministry on August 17 removed 50 NTA staff. NTA subsequently said its examination team was revamped, with 600 subject experts removed and new experts brought in, besides the introduction of a four-tier question-paper scrutiny system.

According to CBI’s first charge sheet, NTA reused the same three subject experts across multiple stages of preparing NEET-UG 2026’s question paper - one of them across all four stages, from item-writing to back-translation - and allowed them to see all four of the exam’s master question sets during the final stage. This essentially meant that the experts were given access to all four final master question sets, providing prolonged, continuous exposure to highly sensitive material.

Kulkarni, according to CBI, transcribed 135 Chemistry questions, along with answer options, onto small pieces of paper and took them out of the confidential area. Mandhare and Havaldar allegedly memorised questions and their parameters and later reconstructed them with the help of textbooks.

Also read: MPSC drug inspector paper leak: 2 more candidates, 2 middlemen arrested

Agency invokes multiple criminal provisions

CBI invoked provisions relating to criminal conspiracy, cheating, criminal breach of trust and destruction of evidence, besides provisions of the Prevention of Corruption Act and the Public Examinations (Prevention of Unfair Means) Act, 2024. The agency relied on 360 witnesses, 422 documents and 43 material objects to support its case.

As reported by HT last month, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) sought CBI’s case records in the matter as it wanted to examine if a money laundering case was made out or not. ED has not yet registered a case under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Neeraj Chauhan
Neeraj Chauhan is a senior journalist with Hindustan Times and an investigative reporter specialising in national security, terrorism, organised crime, narcotics, corruption, financial crime and complex investigations. With over 21 years of experience across Hindustan Times, The Times of India, The Indian Express and The Pioneer, he has built deep expertise in India’s internal security and law-enforcement landscape. Neeraj has extensively covered India’s principal investigative, intelligence and security agencies, including the NIA, CBI, ED, IB, R&AW, MHA and other central security forces. His work has included deeply reported investigations into terrorism, terror financing, cross-border crime, narcotics trafficking, cybercrime, financial fraud and political and corporate corruption. He has reported on some of the most significant terror attacks and security developments in India over the past two decades, including the Delhi serial blasts, the 26/11 Mumbai attacks, the 2019 Pulwama terror attack and the recent Pahalgam attack. His reporting has also chronicled the rise and decline of the Indian Mujahideen, the activities and subsequent crackdown on the Popular Front of India (PFI), Islamist extremist networks, the conflict in Jammu and Kashmir, insurgencies in the Northeast and Maoist violence. Some of Neeraj’s major breaking stories are in Aryan Khan drug case, Sushant Singh Rajput suicide, interception of a 3,000-kg Afghan heroin consignment worth about ₹21,000 crore at Mundra port, Sri Lanka easter bombings, Aarushi-Hemraj murders in Noida, 2G scam, coal block allocation scam, AgustWestland VVIP chopper deal and major bank frauds and extradition cases involving Mehul Choksi, Nirav Modi and Vijay Mallya. His reporting is marked by an ability to cultivate sources, analyse confidential and complex documents, and follow investigations over several years—from the initial breakthrough to chargesheets, trials and international legal proceedings. He specialises in making complicated security and investigative developments accessible while examining their wider implications for governance and public policy. A Chevening South Asia Journalism Programme Fellow at the University of Westminster, Neeraj also spent time at the Financial Times as part of the fellowship. He was also a Robert Bosch Media Ambassadors India-Germany Fellow, studying at the University of Tübingen and working with Der Tagesspiegel in Berlin. He has previously taught investigative journalism and crime reporting as a guest faculty member at the Times School of Journalism. Over more than two decades, Neeraj has established himself as an authoritative voice on India’s national security and investigative landscape, with his reporting closely followed by officials, investigators, lawyers, policymakers and readers seeking insight into some of the country’s most complex and consequential developments.Read More

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