NEET (UG) 2026 paper leak: Delhi court takes cognisance of charge sheet against 13 accused

A Delhi court on Wednesday took cognisance of the charge sheet filed by the Central Bureau of Investigation CBI against 13 accused in the alleged NEET UG 2026 question paper leak case and said it would commence hearing on the framing of charges from Thursday news agency IANS reportedThe development came before the specially designated Fast Track Court at the Rouse Avenue Courts Complex which has been constituted to exclusively deal with offences under the Public Examinations Prevention of Unfair Means Act 2024 and connected casesCBI filed charge sheet against 13 accusedThe CBI filed its charge sheet against all 13 arrested accused on July 28 alleging that confidential NEET UG question papers were leaked before the May 3 examination through a network involving NTA subject experts middlemen coaching operators and othersThe charge sheet claimed that three NTA subject experts entrusted with the translation backtranslation and proofreading of question papers managed to take confidential examination questions out of the NTA office in Delhi by exploiting security lapsesAccording to the probe agency one of the accused PV Kulkarni allegedly wrote down all 135 Chemistry questions and their answer options on small slips of paper and concealed them while leaving the confidential sectionThe CBI said there was no practice of checking or frisking experts while entering or exiting the confidential section of the NTAThe central agency further alleged that another accused Manisha Gurunath Mandhare used her familiarity with NCERT textbooks to reconstruct questions after returning to her hotel room while Manisha Sanjay Havaldar allegedly noted down Physics questions in brief after returning to her accommodationCBI flags security lapses at NTA officeThe CBI has also flagged shortcomings in CCTV surveillance at the NTA office stating that only 2025 days of CCTV backup was available and that there was no dedicated livefeed monitoring control room for the confidential sectionThe agency has cited 360 witnesses 422 documents and 43 material objects in support of its caseThe 13 accused have been chargesheeted under relevant Sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita BNS 2023 besides provisions of the Prevention of Corruption Act 1988 and the Public Examinations Prevention of Unfair Means Act 2024NEET UG 2026 exam was cancelledThe 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 papersThe original NEET UG 2026 examination held on May 3 was subsequently cancelled and a reexamination was conducted on June 21 under heightened security arrangementsAll 13 chargesheeted accused are presently in judicial custodySpecial Fast Track Court to hear paper leak casesThe case is among the first major matters to come before the specially designated Fast Track Court constituted by the Delhi High Court last month following Prime Minister Narendra Modis announcement of fasttrack courts for speedy and stringent punishment in examination paper leak casesOn July 23 the Delhi High Court constituted the specially designated Fast Track Court at the Rouse Avenue Courts Complex and appointed judicial officer Anu Grover Baliga as Special CBI Judge Prevention of Corruption Act to preside over the courtThe High Court directed that all pending cases registered under the Public Examinations Prevention of Unfair Means Act 2024 and connected offences be transferred to the newly created court with immediate effectWith IANS inputs