Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday said the Centre acted without delay after the alleged NEET-UG 2026 paper leak surfaced, describing the incident as a "ghor paap" (grave sin) and asserting that those responsible had been brought to justice. Addressing the NDA Parliamentary Party meeting, the Prime Minister said the government had moved swiftly once the irregularities came to light.
Union Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju, briefing reporters after the meeting, said 13 accused had been arrested and were currently in judicial custody. Quoting the Prime Minister, Rijiju said, "The Prime Minister termed the paper leak a 'ghor paap' and said the strictest possible action must be taken against those responsible."
He added that the government ordered a re-examination to protect the interests of students and ensure the credibility of the admission process. "The government acted promptly after the paper leak came to light. A re-examination was conducted successfully and the results were declared on schedule to safeguard the future of aspirants," Kiren Rijiju said. He said the Centre believed tough punishment for those involved would serve as a deterrent and help preserve the integrity of public examinations.
Meanwhile, the Supreme Court is set to hear a batch of petitions seeking the dissolution of the National Testing Agency (NTA) and a CBI probe into the alleged paper leak. The controversy erupted after the NTA cancelled NEET-UG 2026 on May 12 over concerns regarding the integrity of the examination.
Questions over the examination first surfaced after the provisional answer key was released on May 6, with students and coaching institutes alleging that a "guess paper" closely matched the actual question paper. Investigators later claimed that handwritten question papers had circulated before the examination, particularly in Rajasthan.
The NTA referred allegations of malpractice in Rajasthan and Uttarakhand to central agencies. Rajasthan Police subsequently claimed that more than 400 questions had leaked before the examination, with 135 allegedly matching the final paper. The investigation led to multiple arrests and the questioning of several suspects.
Following the cancellation, Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan announced a re-examination, which was conducted on June 21. The NTA later declared the results, with over 11.21 lakh candidates qualifying for admission to undergraduate medical, dental, AYUSH and allied health courses.
However, the revised results also triggered fresh complaints, with candidates from Maharashtra and Uttar Pradesh alleging discrepancies in their scores and mismatches in their OMR sheets. The NTA rejected the allegations, maintaining that its evaluation process was secure. It also cautioned candidates against relying on fake or AI-generated OMR sheets and issued case-specific clarifications denying allegations of OMR swaps or score manipulation.
