Gujarat High Court has dismissed a plea seeking discharge filed by Jay Jalaram Trust chairman Dixit Patel in the 2024 NEET-UG examination manipulation case. (File photo)
Citing the principles laid down by the Supreme Court in cases where “grave suspicion” exists against accused, the Gujarat High Court has dismissed a plea seeking discharge filed by Jay Jalaram Trust chairman Dixit Patel in the 2024 NEET-UG examination manipulation case.
Justice Gita Gopi of the Gujarat High Court upheld the order of the Special CBI Court in Ahmedabad, which had earlier rejected Patel’s plea for discharge in May 2025.
The High Court, in the April 17 order, cited the principle laid down by the Supreme Court in deciding discharge applications and stated, “Where the materials placed before the court disclose grave suspicion against the accused which has not been properly explained, the court will be fully justified in framing a charge and proceeding with the trial…”
Patel had challenged the order of the special CBI court stating that he had neither been named in the FIR lodged on May 5, 2025 by the Gujarat police nor in the June 23, 2024, FIR lodged by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).
Patel is the chairman of the trust, which runs the two schools– in Parvadi in Panchmahal district and Padal (Thermal) in Kheda district– both designated centres for the 2024 NEET-UG exam. Patel is accused of playing a major role in the alleged malpractice.
Patel’s counsel submitted that there were not “even any remote allegations… raised against the applicant” and following his arrest, the subsequent CBI chargesheet on August 7, 2024 “makes mere reference about the applicant without any material connecting the applicant in any of the offences as alleged and the sections so invoked.”
Patel’s counsels argued that the CBI had “no reason to arrest the applicant where the State Agency had not found any case against the present applicant.
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He was arrested merely relying on the statement of two key witnesses, which did not establish any conspiracy or role of the applicant, the counsel said, adding that the settled principles governing discharge emphasise on “grave suspicion” as the ground for rejecting the plea.
Opposing Patel’s plea, CBI Special Counsel R C Kodekar submitted that the investigation had revealed Patel had “major role played… in conspiracy with other co-accused, Pushottam Sharma and Tushar Bhatt, to manipulate the answers in OMR sheets of certain candidates (of the NEET examination) to ensure that they received high marks in the examination in exchange for a large sum of money… opening their chance to study MBBS in India or abroad.”
The CBI also submitted that the candidates — many hailing from outside Gujarat — were “made to fill out/change their application forms with present addresses in Panchmahal/Vadodara, select Godhra as their exam center and choose Gujarati as the medium of examination.” The CBI counsel stated that Patel’s role “as a trustee and his influence and conspiracy gets very much clear… (from statements of witnesses)… to prove the meeting of minds of all the accused.”
The CBI also submitted that the accused, led by Patel, “manipulated the examination system and cheated the National Testing Agency (NTA) and students at large who appeared in the examination, for personal gain and to grant undue benefit to (a handful of) candidates.”
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The High Court finds no reason to interfere with the order of the trial court. “The duty of the court while examining the discharge application (and) examining the statement of the witnesses would be for a limited purpose finding out whether there is a prima facie case made out against the accused. The statements as recorded discloses grave suspicion against the present applicant…”
Exam cheating case
The case arises from an FIR initially registered by the Panchmahal District police in May 2024 for offences including cheating, criminal breach of trust and conspiracy. The case was later transferred to the CBI. Patel was not named in the original FIR but was subsequently arrested in June 2024 and chargesheeted in August. The CBI, earlier in an affidavit in the trial court, has stated that the accused in the case had allegedly conspired to “intentionally show” both schools run by the trust –in Parvadi and Padal– as being located in ‘Godhra’ to be able to select both exam centres under their control from the NTA list of centres. The CBI also told the court that it was Patel who “gave all approval for all exams that were being conducted in his institutions” and also held meetings to “discuss issues regarding how the exams were to be conducted”.
Aditi Raja is an Assistant Editor with The Indian Express, stationed in Vadodara, Gujarat, with over 20 years in the field. She has been reporting from the region of Central Gujarat and Narmada district for this newspaper since 2013, which establishes her as a highly Authoritative and Trustworthy source on regional politics, administration, and critical socio-economic and environmental issues.
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