New Delhi: A specially designated Fast Track Court at the Rouse Avenue Courts Complex in Delhi on Thursday reserved its order on framing of charges against the accused in the NEET-UG 2026 question paper leak case.
The Fast Track Court, constituted to deal with offences under the Public Examinations (Prevention of Unfair Means) Act, 2024, will pronounce its order on November 18.
The case relates to the alleged leakage of confidential question papers ahead of the NEET-UG 2026 examination, which was held on May 3 and subsequently cancelled following the paper leak controversy.
The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) filed a chargesheet against 13 accused on July 28, claiming that the question papers were leaked through a network involving National Testing Agency (NTA) subject experts, intermediaries, coaching operators and others.
According to the probe agency, three NTA subject experts entrusted with translating, back-translating and proofreading the question papers allegedly took confidential examination questions out of the NTA’s office in Delhi by exploiting security lapses.
The CBI has claimed that one of the accused, P.V. Kulkarni, wrote down all 135 Chemistry questions, along with their answer options, on small slips of paper and concealed them while leaving the confidential section.
The agency also flagged shortcomings in CCTV surveillance at the NTA office, stating that only 20-25 days of CCTV backup were available and that there was no dedicated control room to monitor the live feed from the confidential section.
The chargesheet against the 13 accused cited 360 witnesses, 422 documents and 43 material objects in support of the prosecution’s case.
The accused have been charged under various provisions of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), the Prevention of Corruption Act and the Public Examinations (Prevention of Unfair Means) Act, 2024.
The CBI subsequently filed a chargesheet against Sheshrao Bajrang Suryavanshi, the 14th accused arrested in the case, before the special court in October.
The probe agency claimed that Suryavanshi was linked to another accused, Shubham Khairnar, a career counsellor arrested in Nashik, Maharashtra, for allegedly circulating the question paper on social media.
The CBI registered the case on May 12 following a complaint from the Department of Higher Education under the Union Ministry of Education over alleged irregularities and leakage of confidential NEET-UG question papers. The original examination was cancelled, and a re-examination was conducted on June 21 under heightened security arrangements.
(IANS)
