New Delhi: The Rouse Avenue Court on Wednesday took cognisance of the CBI charge sheet filed against 13 accused in the NEET-UG 2026 paper leak case and listed the matter for Thursday for arguments on framing of charges.
Special Judge (Fast Track Court) Ajay Gupta took cognisance of the charge sheet, which runs into around 20,000 pages. The CBI has also moved an application seeking permission for further investigation in the case.
The court has sought responses from the accused persons on the CBI’s application for further investigation and will hear the matter on Thursday.
The 13 accused persons, Manish Mandhare, Manisha Sanjay Hawaldar, Manisha Waghmare, Prahlad Vitthal Rao Kulkarni, Shivraj Raghunath Motegaonkar, Dr Manoj Shirure, Tejas Harshad Kumar Shah, Dhananjay Lokhande, Shubham Khairnar, Yash Yadav, Mangilal Biwal, Vikas Biwal and Dinesh Biwal were produced before the court through video conferencing from Tihar Jail.
Advocate Hemant Shah, appearing through video conferencing along with Karan Mann and Vikas Mann for accused Prahlad Kulkarni, opposed the CBI’s application, submitting that the investigating agency cannot carry out further investigation without the court’s permission after filing a charge sheet.
Advocate A P Singh appeared through video conferencing for accused Mangilal Biwal, Dinesh Biwal and Vikas Biwal, while advocate Vikram Singh appeared for Dhananjay Lokhande and advocate Pradeep Yadav represented Yash Yadav.
The CBI has filed the charge sheet against the 13 accused for alleged offences including criminal conspiracy, cheating, criminal breach of trust and destruction of evidence under the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), criminal misconduct under the Prevention of Corruption Act and offences under the Public Examination (Prevention of Unfair Means) Act, 2024.
The agency has cited 360 witnesses, 422 documents and 43 material objects in the charge sheet. All 13 charge-sheeted accused are in judicial custody.
According to the CBI, the Department of Higher Education, Government of India, lodged a written complaint on May 12 regarding irregularities and allegations of a paper leak in the NEET-UG 2026 examination held on May 3. The CBI registered an FIR on May 12 and formed multiple teams comprising 72 officers and personnel, along with eight cyber forensic experts.
Searches were conducted at 92 locations in Maharashtra, Rajasthan, Haryana, Delhi and other states, leading to the seizure of digital and communication devices, documents and other material. The agency said forensic imaging and analysis of the seized material have been undertaken.
The first arrest in the case was made on May 13. The CBI said 13 accused have been arrested, including three NTA subject experts in Chemistry, Biology and Physics. Several middlemen allegedly involved in sourcing and distributing the leaked questions were also identified and arrested.
The agency further said two individuals associated with coaching institutes were arrested for allegedly obtaining the leaked question papers from the experts. It said a money trail analysis was conducted and several bank accounts, bank lockers and a demat account belonging to the accused were frozen. (ANI)
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