Speaking at the NDA Parliamentary Party meeting, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said the government acted without delay after the NEET paper leak surfaced. Calling the incident a "ghor paap" (grave sin), he said everyone involved had been arrested, with 13 accused currently lodged in jail.
Union Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju echoed the Prime Minister's remarks, saying the government responded swiftly by arresting 13 people and ensuring they were sent to jail. To protect the interests of students, the Centre decided to conduct a NEET re-examination, which was held successfully, and the results were announced on time.
Rijiju said the government's quick intervention was intended to prevent similar incidents in the future. Referring to PM Modi's address, he said the Prime Minister had called for the harshest possible punishment for those responsible, asserting that strict action would discourage future paper leaks and preserve the credibility of public examinations.
INSIDE THE NEET 2026 LEAK AND ITS AFTERMATH
Ahead of the Supreme Court's hearing on a series of petitions related to the NEET-UG paper leak, petitioners have sought the dissolution of the National Testing Agency (NTA) and a CBI probe into the alleged irregularities. The controversy resulted in the cancellation of NEET-UG 2026 on May 12 over concerns about the fairness of the examination.
The issue first emerged after the NTA published the provisional answer key on May 6, when students and coaching institutes pointed to an alleged "guess paper" that closely matched the actual question paper. Investigators later claimed that a handwritten question bank had been circulated before the exam, particularly in Rajasthan.
The NTA referred allegations of malpractice from Rajasthan and Uttarakhand to central agencies, while the Rajasthan Police alleged that more than 400 questions had leaked before the examination, with 135 reportedly matching the final paper. The investigation led to several arrests and the questioning of multiple suspects.
After the exam was cancelled, Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan announced that a re-examination would be held on June 21. The NTA later declared the results, with 11.21 lakh candidates qualifying for admission to undergraduate medical, dental, AYUSH and allied courses across India.
The re-examination results, however, triggered another round of controversy, with candidates from Maharashtra and Uttar Pradesh alleging discrepancies in their scores and mismatches in their OMR sheets.
While students demanded an investigation into the alleged irregularities, the NTA rejected the claims, maintaining that its evaluation process was secure. It also cautioned candidates against fake and AI-generated OMR sheets and issued case-specific clarifications denying allegations of OMR swaps and score manipulation.
