A special court at Rouse Avenue in New Delhi on Thursday reserved its order on framing of charges in the NEET-UG 2026 paper leak case, in which the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has named 14 accused. Special CBI Judge Ajay Gupta will pronounce the order on November 18, ANI and IANS reported.
Source: ANI via Latestly
The case goes back to the NEET-UG 2026 examination held on May 3, which was cancelled after the paper leak controversy, with a re-examination conducted on June 21 under heightened security. 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 the confidential question papers.
The agency filed its main charge sheet against 13 accused on July 28, citing 360 witnesses, 422 documents and 43 material objects, IANS reported. The charges invoke provisions of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, the Prevention of Corruption Act and the Public Examinations (Prevention of Unfair Means) Act, 2024. The court took cognisance of the charge sheet on August 12.
Source: IANS via HiIndia
According to the CBI's allegations, three subject experts of the National Testing Agency (NTA), who were entrusted with translating, back-translating and proofreading the question papers, took confidential questions out of the NTA's office in Delhi by exploiting security lapses, as they were not searched while leaving the confidential section. The agency has also flagged that only 20 to 25 days of CCTV backup were available at the office and there was no dedicated control room to monitor the live feed. These are prosecution allegations and have not been proved in court.
A supplementary charge sheet was later filed against the 14th accused, Sheshrao Bajrang Suryavanshi, who was arrested on September 2. The CBI alleges that Suryavanshi, a close associate of accused Shubham Khairnar, arranged the leaked questions for various candidates before the examination and collected money from candidates and their families. Senior Public Prosecutor V. K. Pathak appeared for the CBI, and the court had already heard submissions for the other 13 accused.
The November 18 order will decide whether charges are framed against the 14 accused and the case proceeds to trial. None of the accused has been convicted; the charges remain allegations at this stage.