New Delhi: Days after Dharmendra Pradhan’s resignation as the Union education minister following nationwide protests over the alleged leak of 2026 NEET UG examination question paper, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) Tuesday filed its first chargesheet against all 13 arrested accused, including Professor P.V. Kulkarni.
Kulkarni, who had been serving on the National Testing Agency’s (NTA) expert panel for Chemistry since 2019, allegedly had access to the entire question paper as he was responsible for translating it from English to Marathi.
According to the CBI, Kulkarni allegedly earned at least Rs 21 lakh by leaking the question paper to students that he also coached, along with two other subject experts.
Investigators allege that the questions were then passed on to a network of associates, including operators of coaching institutes, counselling centres and other intermediaries. It was then allegedly sold further down the chain to aspirants and families, for varying amounts ranging from Rs 50,000 to Rs 10 lakh.
The alleged motive, investigators say, was to profit from leaking the question paper, and to boost the success rate and, in turn, the reputation of coaching institutes whose students had advance access to the leaked questions. The CBI probe has revealed an organised nexus involving coaching institutes, NTA subject experts and agents operating across multiple states.
“The key accused, P.V. Kulkarni, was coaching 10-15 students at his home, where he dictated questions to them during special coaching sessions conducted along with two other subject experts. Since he had access to the entire question paper, he would dictate the questions and ask the students to write them down,” a source said.
The source further said that no evidence of a criminal syndicate specialising in paper leaks has emerged during the investigation. “Instead, what has come to light is a network of people running coaching institutes who allegedly sought to ensure that students enrolled with them cleared the examination, thereby enhancing the institutes’ reputation and attracting more business.”
The NTA experts allegedly earned several lakhs in rupees for leaking the question paper, while those who subsequently accessed and distributed it allegedly made between Rs 50,000 lakh and Rs 15 lakh for each paper, or even for individual sections of the paper that they sold, the source added. None of the accused were found to have past criminal antecedents.
The agency spokesperson said that besides Kulkarni, those charged include Manisha Havaldar and Manisha Mandhare—subject experts on NTA’s panel. While Mandhare was appointed by the agency to set question papers and had access to both the Botany and Zoology sections, Havaldar had access to only the Physics section.
According to the CBI, Kulkarni held special classes for students arranged by Manisha Waghmare, where he dictated questions, options and answers during these classes, while students copied them into their notebooks. Investigators further say that those handwritten questions almost exactly matched the actual NEET paper.
“The money trail analysis was done and several bank accounts, bank lockers and a demat account of the accused have been frozen,” the CBI spokesperson said in a statement. “Digital forensic analysis reports, handwriting expert opinions and academic experts’ opinions regarding leaked questions have been obtained. These reports confirmed the role of accused in circulation of leaked questions prior to the date of examination.”
ThePrint had previously reported that the agency, which took up the case on the complaint from the Ministry of Education amid mounting concerns and allegations about the sanctity of the examination, had identified Kulkarni, a Pune-based Chemistry professor as the kingpin of the entire conspiracy.
In the chargesheet filed before Delhi’s Rouse Avenue court, the agency has cited as many as 360 witnesses, 422 documents and 43 material objects to press charges, such as criminal conspiracy, cheating, criminal breach of trust, destruction of evidence and others under Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, for offence of criminal misconduct under Prevention of Corruption Act, and for offences under the Public Examination (Prevention of Unfair Means) Act, 2024 against all 13 accused persons.
(Edited by Mannat Chugh)
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