NEET leak probe: CBI gets 3 more days to file annexures in chargesheet, hearing on Aug 3

NEW DELHI: A special fast-track court at Rouse Avenue on Wednesday listed the CBI's chargesheet in the NEET-UG 2026 paper leak case for consideration on August 3 and granted the agency three more days to file the remaining annexures.The court was informed that the CBI had filed a chargesheet running into around 20,000 pages against 13 accused. The agency sought additional time to file the annexures, witness statements and the list of documents, saying the records were being scanned before being supplied to the accused, according to ANI.Special fast track court Judge Anu Grover Baliga allowed the request and granted the CBI three days to complete the filing. During the hearing, the court noted that the chargesheet submitted on Tuesday was not accompanied by witness statements or the list of documents. The CBI told the court that the records were voluminous and would be filed within three days.Deputy Legal Advisor A P Singh, Senior Public Prosecutor V K Pathak and Public Prosecutor Arjun Anand appeared for the CBI during the hearing.Earlier on Tuesday, the CBI filed a chargesheet against 13 accused, including three National Testing Agency (NTA) subject experts, two coaching centre associates, middlemen and several beneficiary candidates.The agency invoked charges of criminal conspiracy, cheating, criminal breach of trust and destruction of evidence under the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), along with offences under the Prevention of Corruption Act and the Public Examination (Prevention of Unfair Means) Act, 2024."The CBI cited 360 witnesses, 422 documents and 43 material objects in this charge sheet. All 13 chargesheeted persons are in judicial custody as on date," the agency's spokesperson had said.The CBI said it had attached digital forensic analysis reports, handwriting expert opinions and academic experts' assessments of the leaked question paper."These reports confirmed the role of the accused in circulation of leaked questions prior to the date of examination," the spokesperson said.The agency took over the probe on May 12 after the Department of Higher Education lodged a complaint over alleged irregularities and a paper leak in the NEET-UG 2026 examination held on May 3. The examination was later cancelled and a re-examination was conducted on June 21.According to the CBI, its two-month investigation traced the alleged conspiracy from the source of the paper leak to the beneficiary candidates, identifying the entire chain involved. The agency also said it had tracked the money trail and frozen several bank accounts, bank lockers and a demat account linked to the accused.Among those named in the chargesheet are three arrested NTA subject experts, PV Kulkarni (Chemistry), Manisha Gurunath Mandhare (Biology) and Manisha Sanjay Havaldar (Physics).Also named are Latur-based doctor Manoj Shirure, Tejas Harshadkumar Shah, a physics faculty member at Pune-based Dr Abhang Prabhu Medical Academy (APMA), and Shivraj Raghunath Motegaonkar of a coaching centre in Latur.Get the latest India News and Live updates. Download the TOI app.

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