New Delhi: A fast-track court set up for public examination malpractice will decide on November 18 whether 14 people accused in the NEET-UG 2026 paper leak case should be put on trial. Special CBI Judge Ajay Gupta reserved the order on Thursday after hearing the agency and the counsel for the last accused to be charge-sheeted.
The CBI filed its main chargesheet against 13 accused in July, and cognizance of it was taken in August. A supplementary chargesheet followed against Sheshrao Bajrang Suryavanshi, of Pune, after his arrest on September 2. Senior Public Prosecutor V K Pathak appeared for the agency.
According to the CBI, Suryavanshi was a close associate of co-accused Shubham Khairnar and, in criminal conspiracy with Khairnar, arranged the purported leaked questions of NEET-UG 2026 for candidates before the examination and collected money from them and their families.
The agency's case is that candidates were brought to a house at Nanded, where the leaked questions were supplied to them. Original documents and educational certificates of the candidates were collected as surety for payment, the CBI has told the court.
The other accused named in the main chargesheet are Manisha Mandhare, Manisha Sanjay Hawaldar, Manisha Waghmare, Prahalad Kulkarni, Shivraj Raghunath Motegaonkar, Dr Manoj Shirure, Tejas Harshad Shah, Shubham Khairnar, Dhananjay Lokhande, Yash Yadav, Mangilal Biwal, Dinesh Biwal and Vikas Biwal.
The CBI registered the case in May 2026 to investigate the leak. The agency has submitted that further investigation against the arrested accused and his associates is at an important stage.
Framing of charges is the stage at which a court decides whether there is enough material for a trial to begin. An order reserving it does not amount to a finding of guilt. All the accused remain accused unless convicted.
NEET-UG is the single entrance examination for undergraduate medical seats in the country, and it is taken by lakhs of candidates every year. Any disruption to the conduct of the examination has a direct bearing on admissions and on the careers of the candidates involved.
The court has heard submissions on the other 13 accused in earlier hearings. If charges are framed on November 18, the trial will proceed against those the court decides to try; those discharged at this stage would drop out of the case.