Delhi Court Takes Cognisance Of CBI Chargesheet Against 13 In NEET-UG 2026 Paper Leak Case

New Delhi, August 12, 2026: A Delhi court on Wednesday took cognisance of the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) chargesheet against 13 accused in the NEET-UG paper leak case.

Special Judge Ajay Gupta took cognisance of the agency’s final report, which was recently submitted before the designated fast-track court dealing with “criminal cases arising from paper leaks as well as the use of other unfair means in public examinations”.

The court is likely to begin hearing arguments on charges from Thursday.

Court Pulls Up Media Over Publication Of Witness Names

During the proceedings, the CBI informed the court that the media was publishing the names of some witnesses, who could even be minors, as well as portions of the chargesheet.

Expressing displeasure over the publication of witness names, the court said, “This is very shocking… Whatever has not yet been stated in court and is currently part of the chargesheet… All of that being made public in the media is extremely shocking.”

The court said responsible media should refrain from doing such things.

According to the CBI chargesheet, three National Testing Agency (NTA) subject experts were the primary sources of the NEET paper leak: P. V. Kulkarni for chemistry, Manisha Sanjay Havaldar for physics and Manisha Gurunath Mandhare for botany and zoology.

CBI Details Arrests And Alleged Roles

The chargesheet said the CBI began its crackdown on May 13, arresting Mangilal, Dinesh and Vikas Biwal in Rajasthan. Their mobile phones contained leaked PDFs received through Telegram on April 29.

The agency also arrested Yash Yadav in Gurugram and Shubham Khairnar in Nashik on May 13. Dhananjay Lokhande was arrested in Pune the same day after he allegedly attempted to destroy his phone to clear evidence before being apprehended.

Manisha Sanjay Waghmare was arrested in Pune the following day. According to the final report, she was “one of the prime conspirators in the leakage and dissemination of NEET UG 2026 questions for monetary consideration” and “acted as the link between candidates and the subject experts”.

Following their interrogation, the CBI arrested alleged mastermind P. V. Kulkarni in Latur on May 15 and Manisha Mandhare in Pune on May 16.

Shivraj Motegaonkar, founder of a coaching centre in Latur, was picked up on May 17.

The agency arrested Manisha Sanjay Havaldar in Latur on May 22. The final arrests were those of Tejas Shah and Dr Manoj Shirure from Pune and Latur, respectively, on May 26.

The chargesheet said forensic imaging of mobile devices helped uncover the alleged conspiracy by recovering deleted WhatsApp chats and PDF documents containing the leaked questions.

Also Watch:

NEET-UG Cancelled And Re-Exam Conducted

The National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test (Undergraduate), or NEET-UG, is conducted by the NTA for medical aspirants.

On May 12, the NTA cancelled the NEET-UG examination held on May 3 for admissions to medical courses amid allegations of a paper leak. A re-examination was conducted on June 21.

Dharmendra Pradhan later resigned as Education Minister over the NEET paper leak row following protests.

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