The two National Testing Agency (NTA) subject experts arrested in the NEET-UG 2026 paper leak case were not only involved in setting questions — they were also assigned to translate the question paper into Marathi, giving them access to the final chemistry and biology sections of the examination, people familiar with the investigation said on Thursday.
Student activists protests against the National Testing Agency office in Delhi’s Okhla over the NEET paper leak incident. (ANI)
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Manisha Gurunath Mandhare, a biology expert at Pune’s Modern College of Arts, Science and Commerce arrested on May 16, translated 90 biology questions — 45 each from botany and zoology. PV Kulkarni, a retired chemistry lecturer from Dayanand Junior College arrested on May 15, translated 45 chemistry questions. Together, the two had access to all 135 questions from the two subjects through their translation assignments — in addition to whatever access they had as paper-setters.
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The translation process, a person aware of the probe explained, involves two independent layers. “Apart from three or four subject experts who prepare the paper, the process of setting question papers in English and 12 regional languages involves two separate sets of translators — one translates the paper into regional languages and another independently translates it back into English to verify accuracy,” the person said.
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The back-translation is a verification mechanism, but it means the paper passes through multiple sets of hands before it is finalised. “Since both experts are Marathi speakers, their services were used for translation along with other translators. Investigators have found that this gave them access to all final chemistry and biology questions,” the person added.
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The back-translation is a verification mechanism, but it means the paper passes through multiple sets of hands before it is finalised. “Since both experts are Marathi speakers, their services were used for translation along with other translators. Investigators have found that this gave them access to all final chemistry and biology questions,” the person added.
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NTA conducts NEET-UG in 13 languages — English and 12 regional languages — and the translation chain, which involves contractual staff, has now emerged as a structural vulnerability in the paper-setting architecture.
Six of the 10 persons arrested by the CBI so far are from Maharashtra — a concentration that investigators are examining. CBI officials have told HT that the “entire committee that set the paper and other senior officers of NTA are under the scanner.”
Sanjay Maurya is a Principal Correspondent with Hindustan Times, where he covers education, with a focus on school and higher education, competitive examinations, education policy and governance. Working as part of the National Bureau, he is based in New Delhi and reports on the Ministry of Education and covers various statutory bodies like UGC, AICTE and NCTE and autonomous bodies like CBSE and NCERT. His reporting also tracks the implementation of key government reforms and policies from school education to higher education including in IITs, NITs, IIMs, central and state universities, and their impact on students and educational institutions. His reporting on the irregularities and rushed implementation of CBSE's On-Screen Marking (OSM) system for evaluation of Class 12 board exams 2026, triggered administrative action, leading to the transfer of the board's two senior-most officials and the constitution of a committee to probe alleged irregularities in procurement process of the system. He joined Hindustan Times in December 2024. Prior to that, he had a three-year stint at Careers360, where he reported on school and higher education, entrance examinations, admissions, rankings and various education policies involving universities and professional education bodies. Over the years, Maurya has reported extensively on major developments in India's education sector, including the implementation of the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020, reforms in the National Testing Agency (NTA) following the NEET-UG 2024 controversy, changes in school education, higher education regulation, and the evolution of entrance examinations such as NEET, JEE and CUET. He regularly produces data-driven and explanatory stories based on government documents, parliamentary proceedings, court records and official data. His focus remains on helping readers understand how education policies and institutional decisions affect millions of students, teachers and educational institutions across the country.
Get Latest News, breaking headlines, and top India News, and today real-time updates from across the nation. Stay informed on politics, government policies, crime, Today Weather, and major developments on Hindustan Times
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Home/India News/NEET-UG leak: Arrested NTA experts also translated Marathi paper, got access to final questions
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