‘Brought disrepute to nation’: Delhi court denies bail to doctor accused in NEET paper leak case

The main allegation against Shirure was that Siddhivinayak Hospital, which he ran in Latur, Maharashtra, was used to “facilitate access to a chemistry question paper in April 2026”, ahead of the exam scheduled on May 3.

The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), which is investigating the case, has alleged that “Dr Manoj Bhagwanrao Shirure facilitated Aditya Motegaonkar, son of co-accused Shivraj Raghunath Motegaonkar, to take the chemistry question in the applicant’s hospital in the third week of April 2026, and that an amount of Rs 5 lakh was obtained from the wife of said accused and allegedly seized from the sister’s house.”

Special Judge Gupta said in his order that the “abhorrent and illegal acts” by the accused had “eroded the trust of honest students in the process of this exam, who prepare for the exam with full zeal and honesty and by burning the midnight oil, in order to compete with their fellow candidates on the basis of their sheer skill and competence”.

“…It is prima facie clear from the investigation carried out by the CBI and the incriminating material collected by them till date, that present accused is one of the active conspirators of an organized paper leak gang who allegedly played an active role in leaking the NEET-UG 2026 exam paper well before the scheduled date of examination, i.e., 03.05.2026,” the judge said.

CBI, which was represented by Senior Public Prosecutor (PP) Neetu Singh, had earlier submitted before the court that out of the 136 handwritten questions recovered from the mobile phone of the senior Motegaonkar, 111 had matched the master question sets prepared by the National Testing Agency (NTA), which conducts NEET.

Shivraj Motegaonkar runs ‘Renukai Chemistry Classes’, a coaching centre in Latur, and a YouTube channel by the name of ‘Motegaonkar Sir’s RCC’, which currently has 1.70 lakh subscribers.

Senior PP Singh also argued that the paper leak had driven several students to death by suicide, and had caused a loss of more than Rs 600 crore to the exchequer. He told the court that extraordinary steps had to be taken for the re-examination, including sending the question papers to the exam centres by helicopter.

According to the CBI, Motegaonkar obtained the questions on the premises of Siddhivinayak Hospital. The questions were allegedly leaked by P V Kulkarni, a translator on the panel of the NTA, the CBI has alleged.

“The allegations disclose prima facie involvement of the applicant/ accused Dr Manoj Bhagwanrao Shirure in an organised examination fraud/ conspiracy. The investigation is sensitive and larger in scope, and release of the applicant/ accused…at this stage is likely to prejudice the investigation and/or trial,” the CBI submitted before the court.

Earlier on June 9, the court had denied bail to co-accused Manisha Sanjay Waghmare. Orders on the bail pleas of other accused persons remain pending.

According to the CBI, PDF files of the leaked question papers were sold through the messaging platform Telegram for Rs 10 lakh.

Investigators have made multiple arrests in the case, including teachers and students from Delhi, Jaipur, Gurgaon, Nashik, Pune, Latur, and Ahilyanagar.

More than 22.7 lakh aspirants appeared for this year’s NEET, the examination for admission to undergraduate medical colleges. on May 3. Following the leak, the NTA cancelled the exam on May 12. The re-test took place on June 21, and the results of the re-test were declared on July 16.