Now Reading: CBI chargesheet in NEET-UG 2026 leak names 13, alleges conspiracy
-
01
CBI chargesheet in NEET-UG 2026 leak names 13, alleges conspiracy
The Central Bureau of Investigation has filed a chargesheet in the NEET-UG 2026 paper leak case, alleging a coordinated conspiracy by three National Testing Agency subject experts. The chargesheet, filed before a…
The Story in Brief
The Central Bureau of Investigation has filed a chargesheet in the NEET-UG 2026 paper leak case, alleging a coordinated conspiracy by three National Testing Agency subject experts. The chargesheet, filed before a special CBI court in Delhi on July 28, relies on digital forensic evidence including an access control app from a Pune housing society where chemistry expert P V Kulkarni lived.
The CBI says the experts, Kulkarni, zoology-botany expert Manisha Gurunath Mandhare and physics expert Manisha Sanjay Havaldar, exploited procedural gaps in the NTA to reconstruct and leak questions. Leaked material matched up to 85% with question sets they had accessed. A beautician named Manisha Waghmare allegedly acted as a key intermediary, circulating papers through a chain of middlemen to candidates in Rajasthan and Haryana. The agency has charged 13 accused under the Prevention of Corruption Act and the Public Examinations Act. Separately, the Cockroach Janta Party has demanded the NTA be dissolved and replaced with a permanent technical commission.
The Indian Opinion
The CBI chargesheet provides forensic detail, but the public debate risks polarising into two lazy narratives: that the NTA is irredeemably corrupt or that this is an isolated case of a few bad apples. Neither is supported by the evidence. The agency clearly identifies specific procedural lapses inside the NTA’s Okhla facility. Yet political demands to dissolve the entire testing body may ignore the need for systemic reform rather than wholesale dismantling. A fair test will be whether the government orders an independent audit of all NTA examination processes, including vendor contracts and access controls.
Sources (3): timesnownews.com, assamtribune.com, timesofindia.indiatimes.com
This story was synthesised by AI from the 3 sources linked above.
Updated: this story now draws on 3 sources.
