In a move affecting over 22 lakh candidates, the National Testing Agency (NTA) Tuesday cancelled the NEET-UG exam for admission to undergraduate medical courses, nine days after it was held on May 3, following an alleged paper leak — the first time such a decision has been taken by the agency since the exam was introduced in 2016.
The NTA said the exam, which is the largest it conducts in terms of students appearing in a single session, will be held again on dates to be notified separately even as the Centre handed over the paper-leak probe to the CBI.
Read More | How a WhatsApp message ‘forwarded many times’ led to NEET UG cancellation
The cancellation triggered protests by student organisations, mainly in Delhi and Kerala, and drew sharp criticism from the Opposition, which accused the Government of crushing the “hard work, sacrifices, and dreams of more than 22 lakh students”. Around 22.7 lakh candidates had registered for the exam, and 22.05 appeared for it.
Speaking to The Indian Express, NTA Director General Abhishek Singh said the decision to cancel the test was taken after the process was found to have been “vitiated”. The NTA cannot “continue to allow miscreants” to operate “even in an isolated way, even in one sector, one subject”, he said.
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According to Singh, the NTA received information about alleged malpractices on May 7, which was then flagged to law enforcement agencies. The Rajasthan Special Operations Group subsequently found a NEET-UG “guess paper” with 410 questions, of which 120 appeared in the exam. On Tuesday, following a request from Rajasthan Police, police in Nashik detained a medical student, identified as Shubham Khairnar (27), in connection with the alleged leak.
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Meanwhile, following the Centre’s directive, and a complaint from the Department of Higher Education, the CBI registered a FIR in connection with alleged irregularities while forming multiple teams to conduct searches at various locations.
Also read | How a WhatsApp message ‘forwarded many times’ led to NEET UG cancellation
The NTA said in an official statement that the “present examination process could not be allowed to stand”. “On the basis of the inputs subsequently examined by NTA in coordination with the Central agencies, and the investigative findings shared by the law enforcement agencies, and in order to ensure that there is transparency in the system, the National Testing Agency, with the approval of the Government of India, has decided to cancel the NEET (UG) 2026 examination conducted on 3 May 2026, and to re-conduct the examination on dates that will be notified separately,” the NTA said.
“The registration data, candidature, and examination centres opted for in the May 2026 cycle will be carried forward to the re-conducted examination. No fresh registration will be required, and no additional examination fee will be levied. In addition, fees already paid, will be refunded to the students and the exam will be re-conducted using NTA’s internal resources,” the agency said.
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“This decision has been taken in the interest of students and in recognition of the trust on which the national examination system rests. The Agency is conscious that re-conduct will cause real and significant inconvenience to candidates and their families. NTA does not take that consequence lightly. The decision has been taken because the alternative would have caused greater and more lasting damage to that trust,” it said.
This year’s breach comes two years after the NTA faced a similar paper leak controversy in 2024. While students and Opposition leaders had demanded a retest then, too, the Centre refused to cancel the exam. At the time, the Education Ministry maintained there had been no large-scale breach of confidentiality, and Minister Dharmendra Pradhan said the country should not hold the future of candidates from rural areas hostage for “some isolated incidents”.
The Supreme Court had also refused petitions seeking a retest in 2024, noting that available material did not point to a “systemic leak of the question paper which would indicate a disruption of the sanctity of the examination” — while noting that a paper leak did take place in Jharkhand and Bihar.
After a seven-member committee constituted by the Centre recommended enhanced security measures in its 2024 report, NEET-UG has since been conducted with biometric verification of candidates, police escort for exam material in GPS-enabled vehicles, and active involvement of district administration.
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Following the latest leak, Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi said the “paper mafia gets away scot-free”, and that lakhs of students would have to endure mental stress, financial burden, and uncertainty again. “The hard work, sacrifices, and dreams of more than 22 lakh students have been crushed by this corrupt BJP regime,” he wrote on X.
The CBI’s FIR has been filed under multiple provisions, including criminal conspiracy, cheating, criminal breach of trust, theft, and destruction of evidence under the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), along with relevant sections of the Prevention of Corruption Act and the Public Examination (Prevention of Unfair Means) Act, 2024.
The complaint alleges that prior to the examination, certain documents related to the question paper were circulated without authorisation, raising concerns about a potential breach in the process.
“The NTA had received inputs pointing to the circulation of some documents linked to the exam, prompting an internal review before the matter was escalated to central authorities,” the complaint alleged.
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“The allegations suggest a possible compromise of the sanctity and integrity of the examination process. The agency is committed to conducting a thorough and time-bound investigation to ascertain the extent of the irregularities and ensure accountability,” a CBI spokesperson said.
“The agency is expected to examine the role of officials, intermediaries, and any organised networks that may have facilitated the alleged leak,” the spokesperson said.