Court Deliberates on Charges in NEET Paper Leak Case
A fast-track court in New Delhi is set to announce its decision on charges in the NEET paper leak case involving 14 accused.
New Delhi, October 29 (Daily Kiran) : A special fast-track court in New Delhi has reserved its decision regarding the charges in the NEET paper leak case. The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has named 14 individuals as accused and submitted a charge sheet consisting of approximately 20,000 pages.
The court at Rouse Avenue took cognizance of the CBI’s charges on August 12. The agency filed its initial charge sheet in July, following the registration of the case in May 2026 to investigate the paper leak. The court is expected to deliver its order on November 18.
Among the accused are Yash Yadav, Mangilal Bival, Dinesh Bival, Vikas Bival, Shubham Khairnar, Dhananjay Lokhande, Prahlad Kulkarni, Tejas Harshad Kumar, Dr. Manoj Shirure, Shivraj Raghunath Motegaonkar, Manisha Waghmare, Manisha Mandhare, and Manisha Sanjay Hawaldar.
The CBI alleges that three subject experts leaked NEET exam questions from the NTA office in Delhi through various means. The accused were able to do this because they were not searched when leaving the confidential section.
Investigations revealed that Tejas Dabhade typed the biology documents, based on photocopies of notes from Snehanjali Deshmukh and Diya Shinde, on April 20 and 21. These notes were provided by Manisha Sanjay Waghmare through Dhananjay Nivrutti Lokhande to Satyajeet Solunke and Tejas.
The agency also stated that two documents containing leaked physics questions were found, one of which allegedly bears the handwriting of accused Manisha Sanjay Hawaldar, containing 68 questions over nine pages. She sent these via WhatsApp to co-accused Manisha Gurunath Mandhare on April 25. The same questions were provided to accused Tejas Harshadkumar Shah on April 14, 2026.
Regarding the chemistry paper leak, the investigation revealed that documents were in the handwriting of Sakshi Dhumal, one of the candidates who attended classes at the residence of accused PV Kulkarni in Pune. Additionally, documents recovered from Khatib Madiha Begum were in the handwriting of accused Shivraj Raghunath Motegaonkar, who obtained them through his son Aditya from PV Kulkarni.
The CBI stated that extensive searches were conducted across India, including in Rajasthan, Maharashtra, Jammu and Kashmir, Karnataka, Haryana, Bihar, Chhattisgarh, and Uttar Pradesh. Physical copies of the leaked questions and digital devices were seized, along with voice samples from Mangilal Bival, Dinesh Bival, and Vikas Bival.
