The Central Bureau of Investigation has handed the Centre a detailed report on the NEET-UG 2026 paper leak, pointing to serious procedural lapses inside the National Testing Agency. People familiar with the matter said on Monday that the report, sent to the Union education ministry late last month, is less about who leaked the paper and more about how the system itself made the leak possible. It recommends sweeping systemic reforms.
Subject experts had access to the final question sets
The question-setting process for NEET-UG 2026 ran through several stages: item writing by subject experts, selection of questions by moderators to build four sets, solving of those sets by vetters, translation into vernacular languages, and a final back-translation into English to verify accuracy.
The problem is that some experts worked across more than one stage, giving them access to the final, complete question sets. “Ideally, different experts should have been assigned for every stage, and access to the final set of question sets by individual experts should have been restricted,” an officer familiar with the probe said.
The three experts named as the source of the leak in the main chargesheet, retired chemistry professor P V Kulkarni, botany teacher Manisha Mandhare and physics teacher Manisha Havaldar, were external experts brought in through this very process.
CCTV gaps and missing security checks at the NTA office
The report also flags physical security gaps at the NTA office in Delhi’s Okhla, where the confidential work on the papers was done. The office kept CCTV backups for only 20 to 25 days, and since the confidential work was completed on April 7 while the investigation began on May 12, the relevant footage was gone.
There was also no dedicated control room monitoring the CCTV live feed, so what experts did inside the confidential hall went unnoticed. The CBI has conveyed to the government that complete CCTV coverage should be mandatory across every NTA area, with backup maintained for the entire period.
Experts involved in paper-setting and translation were also given blank sheets for rough work. According to the CBI, Kulkarni used these to note down all 135 chemistry questions and their answer options as small chits. There were no frisking or metal-detector checks when experts entered or left the confidential section.
The NTA has since shifted from that office to a new one on Minto Road in Delhi.
No criminality found against NTA officers
The report makes one thing clear: no criminality has been found on the part of any government officer posted at the NTA. The main chargesheet, filed on July 28 against 13 people, named the three external experts along with middlemen and coaching centre representatives. A supplementary chargesheet filed last week named a 14th accused, also a private individual, and named no NTA official.
The Fast Track Court in Delhi has set October 22 as the next hearing date.
An agency in the middle of an overhaul
The report lands while the NTA is already being rebuilt. The ministry removed 50 NTA staff members on August 17, and the agency later said it had revamped its examination team, removed 600 subject experts, brought in new ones, and introduced a four-tier question-paper scrutiny system.
A six-member task force headed by Infosys co-founder Nandan Nilekani has been asked to recommend technological and structural reforms for the NTA.
The May 3 exam was cancelled on May 12 after at least 120 questions in a guess paper matched the actual paper, triggering nationwide protests. A re-examination was held on June 21, and the July 16 results showed close to 20 lakh candidates had appeared and 11.21 lakh had qualified.
What this means for the next NEET
- Restricted access: The CBI’s recommendations are expected to shape the 2027 exam cycle, with experts confined to a single stage of paper-setting.
- Surveillance upgrades: Full CCTV coverage with longer backup retention is likely to become mandatory at the testing agency’s offices.
- Expert vetting: The overhaul of the expert pool, with 600 experts already replaced, is aimed at breaking old networks of access.
- Tech reforms: The Nilekani-led task force’s recommendations could modernise the agency’s examination infrastructure.
FAQs
When was NEET-UG 2026 held?
The exam was held on May 3, 2026. It was cancelled on May 12 after the leak was detected, and a re-exam was held on June 21.
What does the CBI report say?
It flags procedural lapses at the NTA, from subject experts having access to the final question sets to CCTV backups of only 20 to 25 days and no frisking checks. It recommends systemic reforms.
Were any NTA officers found guilty?
No. The CBI has found no criminality on the part of any government officer posted at the NTA. All accused named so far are private individuals and external experts.
What has the NTA already changed?
The agency has removed 600 subject experts, introduced a four-tier question-paper scrutiny system, shifted to a new office, and is under review by a six-member task force led by Nandan Nilekani.
When is the next court hearing?
The Fast Track Court in Delhi has set October 22 for the next hearing in the case.
The leak shook the faith of millions of medical aspirants and their families. If the CBI’s recommendations are implemented in full, the next entrance could run behind far tighter doors, and that is what aspirants waiting for 2027 will be watching for.
