NTA declares results of 2 candidates named as CBI witnesses in NEET 2026 paper leak case after Bombay HC order

Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar: The National Testing Agency (NTA) has declared the NEET UG 2026 results of two Maharashtra students whose results were withheld during the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) probe into the NEET paper leak.

The results were declared on Tuesday, a day after the Aurangabad bench of the Bombay High Court directed the NTA to publish them. The court noted that the two students were not accused in the case and had instead been listed as witnesses by the CBI.

The students, one from Beed and the other from Jalgaon, had attended Coaching Classes in Latur, owned by jailed NEET paper leak accused and owner of the coaching institute.

Their results were withheld after the CBI questioned both students as part of its investigation. Their electronic devices and examination-related documents were also seized. The NTA later issued show-cause notices to them over alleged use of unfair means.

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A division bench of Justices Nitin Suryawanshi and Abasaheb Shinde on Monday directed the NTA to declare the NEET-UG 2026 results of the two students by 11 am on August 11, since Aug 12 is the last date for filling the admission form.

The bench passed the directions after the CBI clarified that the two students were not accused in the alleged paper leak case but had been cited as witnesses and that it had no objection to the declaration of their results.

As per the latest media report by TOI, the Beed student, an OBC candidate who scored 82% in Class XII, joined Coaching Classes in June 2025 to prepare for NEET-UG 2026. She appeared for the original NEET-UG exam on May 3 and also took the re-examination conducted on June 21.

When the NTA uploaded the OMR sheets in July, her sheet was not available, and her result was subsequently withheld. She denied any involvement in the alleged paper leak incident. 

The Jalgaon student, who belongs to the Kunbi community and has an OBC validity certificate, had scored 603 out of 720 in NEET-UG 2024 and 456 out of 720 in NEET-UG 2025. He had not secured admission in either year.

He later joined the Latur coaching institute and appeared for the NEET-UG 2026 re-examination. The NTA also issued him a show-cause notice. In his response, he denied using unfair means and said he regularly solved questions given by teachers during coaching classes.

In this context, the advocate Siddhartha Yawalkar, who appeared for the students, said that the CBI informed the court that the petitioners were named in a list attached to its June 15 communication but were not chargesheeted. The agency clarified that the students were not made accused in the chargesheet filed on July 28 and had been cited as witnesses.

The High Court accepted the CBI's statement as an undertaking and directed the NTA to declare the results, taking into account the medical admission schedule.

Following the direction and the CBI's clarification, the Deputy Solicitor General of India, appearing for the Centre and NTA, informed the court that the results could be declared, and the NTA declared them on Tuesday.

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