NEET paper leak row reaches Supreme Court:Petition seeks re-exam over lost faith in NTA; CBI arrests 5

The Federation of All India Medical Associations (FAIMA) on Wednesday filed a petition in the Supreme Court seeking the cancellation of NEET UG 2026 and demanding a re-examination under the supervision of the court. FAIMA stated that public confidence in the National Testing Agency (NTA) has been severely undermined, arguing that the current governing body should therefore be reconstituted. Meanwhile, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has detained Shubham Khairnare from Nashik and Dhananjay from Ahilyabai Nagar. Dhananjay is alleged to have supplied the question paper to Shubham. A Mumbai court has granted the CBI a two-day transit remand for Shubham. In a separate development, Rajasthan Police have arrested a first-year BAMS student from Gurugram. So far, the CBI has arrested five individuals in connection with the case, three from Jaipur, one from Gurugram, and one from Nashik. Officials also visited the NTA headquarters in Delhi as part of their ongoing investigation. The National Testing Agency had cancelled the NEET examination on 12 May following reports of a paper leak and acknowledged that irregularities had taken place. The exam, held on 3 May, was attended by 22.79 lakh candidates. NTA DG Abhishek Singh admits irregularities NTA Director General Abhishek Singh has acknowledged irregularities, stating on Tuesday (12 May) that the agency was responsible for the error. He added that the examination would be rescheduled, with a fresh date expected to be announced within six to eight days. The Central Government has handed over the investigation to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), which has registered an FIR in the case. The National Testing Agency (NTA) said the decision to cancel the exam was taken after receiving approval from the Government of India. Meanwhile, in Delhi, Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan declined to respond to media questions on the matter, leaving without comment. Separately, the Youth Congress has alleged that 89 examination papers have been leaked and that exams have been rescheduled 48 times over the past decade, holding the BJP-led government responsible for repeated failures in the examination system. CBI to probe The government has decided to hand over the matter to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) for a comprehensive probe into the allegations linked to the examination. NTA said it will fully cooperate and provide all records and materials required. Around 22.79 lakh students who had prepared for the exam, the cancellation comes as a major setback. The ‘Question Bank’ had over 300 questions spanning Physics, Chemistry, and Biology — and 150 of them appeared verbatim in the NEET paper. Since the exam has 180 questions worth 4 marks each, questions totalling 600 out of 720 marks were lifted straight from the ‘Question Bank.’ Experts say it’s not unusual for a few questions from a known question bank to show up in an exam — but 150 out of 180 is far beyond any coincidence. How many students got the ‘Question Bank’ remains unknown The exact number of students who received the alleged ‘Question Bank’ is still unclear, but the scale is believed to be significant. A key clue: those who received it on WhatsApp saw it tagged as ‘Forwarded Many Times’, suggesting it spread widely. The trail is now leading to Kerala, Rajasthan, and Maharashtra. Nashik Police confirmed that a youth has been detained in the NEET paper leak case, with a Rajasthan Police team on its way to the city. Sources say the accused is currently enrolled in a BAMS programme and also runs a medical counselling agency. No need to register again, fees will be refunded NTA has clarified that students do not need to register again for the re-exam. Registration details, candidature, and exam centres will remain valid. No additional fee will be charged. Fees already paid will be refunded. Fresh exam dates and admit cards will be announced on official NTA channels. Students and parents have been advised to avoid unverified social media claims. NTA DG says – Irregularity in the exam came to light on May 7 Late on the night of May 7, a whistleblower alerted us that someone had received certain questions on WhatsApp — before the exam even took place. When checked, those questions matched the ones in the actual paper. We immediately took it upon ourselves to investigate and find out whether the PDF had been circulating before May 3, the exam date. The probe confirmed it — some questions were indeed identical to those in our question paper. What made it worse: the PDF was already sitting on people’s phones on May 1 and 2 — two days before the exam. Leaders’ reactions on the matter— Ashok Gehlot, former Chief Minister of Rajasthan
The NEET 2026 exam has been cancelled. The hard work, sacrifice and dreams of more than 22 lakh students have been crushed by this corrupt BJP system. The so-called “Amrit Kaal” of the Prime Minister has turned into a “poisonous era” for the country. Kumari Selja, Congress MP
She said this is a direct attack on the hard work and future of millions of students. Repeated paper leak incidents raise serious questions on the government’s accountability, and the trust of more than 22 lakh students and their families has been shaken. Paper leak controversy also surfaced in 2024 In 2024 as well, the NEET UG examination was affected by paper leak allegations, leading to cancellation of the exam at some centres. The exam was conducted on 5 May, and on 6 May, the NTA denied any paper leak. However, investigations later carried out in Bihar (Patna) and Jharkhand (Hazaribagh) found evidence of a leak, following which several arrests were made. The Supreme Court, however, refused to cancel the entire examination. Instead, a re-test was ordered for 1,539 candidates at selected centres. Along with the leak allegations, the issue of 67 students scoring a perfect 720/720 and multiple toppers emerging from the same centre also triggered major controversy. NTA under the scanner: 7 years of failures and controversies NEET UG 2019 — Multiple correct answers for the same question JEE Mains 2020 — Assam topper’s exam taken by an imposter NEET UG 2020 — Student awarded 6 marks, OMR sheet later showed 590 NEET UG 2020 — ST category topper declared failed JEE Mains 2022 — Technical failures during the exam JEE Mains 2024 — Unequal distribution of students across shifts