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CBI Charge-Sheets Three NTA Experts Over NEET‑UG 2026 Paper Leak

The agency says the experts removed and shared master question material and that alleged lapses in NTA procedures exposed the exam to organised leakage and possible legal and security reforms.

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

Overview

  • The CBI filed a chargesheet on Saturday, Aug. 8, naming three Pune‑based NTA subject experts—P V Kulkarni, Manisha Sanjay Havaldar and Manisha Gurunath Mandhare—as primary sources in the NEET‑UG 2026 paper leak and listing 13 accused in all.
  • Earlier events in the case include the May 3 NEET exam being cancelled on May 12 after leak allegations and a full re‑exam held on June 21, both actions that followed public outcry and political fallout.
  • The chargesheet sets out specific alleged methods: Kulkarni is accused of writing all 135 chemistry questions on paper chits and removing them, Mandhare is accused of marking and dictating textbook passages in private classes, and Havaldar is accused of memorising and dictating physics questions for transfer by WhatsApp.
  • The CBI says it built its case from entry logs, CCTV footage, phone records and WhatsApp chats and that it found no evidence implicating government officials or NTA office‑bearers.
  • Investigators have invoked the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita 2023, the Public Examinations (Prevention of Unfair Means) Act 2024 and the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988, a move that raises the prospect of heavy penalties and could drive immediate changes in NTA security, expert use and exam handling practices.