NEET paper leak: Physics expert says no prescribed criteria in subject expert selection

“Existing experts could recommend teachers from subjects such as Physics, Chemistry and Biology for roles including item writing, moderation and translation,” he is learnt to have said.

The statement also records that the translation of Physics Set-IF from Marathi to English was done by arrested Pune-based teacher Manisha Sanjay Havaldar on March 14, and later the proofreading was done by the witness on March 21. CBI arrested Havaldar on May 22 in the NEET paper leak case for supposedly leaking the Physics question paper.

In his statement, the witness claimed that he had been associated with medical and engineering entrance examination work conducted by Central Government bodies since 2013, including the period when CBSE organised All India Pre-Medical/Pre-Dental Entrance Test (AIPMT), and had also worked for Joint Entrance Examination (JEE) for a short period. He said he had been associated with the Maharashtra Board and the State Entrance Exam since 2000.

In his testimony, the expert is learnt to have said Physics material was translated into multiple languages after a question paper was prepared, with approximately two to four teachers engaged for each language. “Teachers were also engaged for item writing and moderation, and that such work continued throughout the year. To my knowledge, there is no formally documented procedure governing these activities, and no written appointment letters or formal documentation are issued for such engagements,” he claimed in his statement.

‘Deficiencies in paper preparation system’

The witness also pointed to what he described as deficiencies in the paper preparation system. In his view, the process lacked clearly defined procedures and effective management. Since question paper preparation involved subject experts, item writers, moderators and translators, he said, any person involved at these stages could potentially become a source of information leakage if adequate monitoring mechanisms were not in place.

“I believe there is insufficient supervision and control over the individuals engaged in these roles,” the statement said.

The statement also referred to one Chemistry expert associated with NTA for the last six to seven years. “That one Chemistry expert had coordinated with NTA regarding workshops for training existing experts and prospective experts for future empanelment. He (the witness) claimed that, after certain differences arose between him and an NTA official over questions set for a Sainik School Class 6 entrance examination, coordination work was taken over by her (Chemistry expert),” a source said.

The witness alleged that several new experts were later empanelled on the Chemistry expert’s recommendations, mostly comprising her friends or common acquaintances from Garware College and SP College, Pune. He said that, in his understanding, NTA did not have a formal policy for selection of experts and that mostly known people were selected through reference only, a source said.

The witness said the Chemistry expert was referred to NTA by Mandhare, who was already arrested by the CBI, after another Chemistry expert, Dr Bhatt, reportedly became unable to continue due to an injury. “Following her association with NTA, he said, she introduced several teachers from different disciplines, including Physics and Biology. He estimated that 40 to 50 teachers were brought into the system through her references,” the source said.

‘Not aware of Kulkarni’s conduct’

The statement also mentioned P V Kulkarni, described as a Chemistry expert associated with NTA for the last four to five years and was empanelled when one of the senior NTA experts was unable to perform her duties due to Covid. Kulkarni, the retired lecturer arrested in Pune on May 15, had entered into a conspiracy to distribute the leaked question papers of NEET 2026.