New Delhi, 30 September (H.S.): The Rouse Avenue Court has granted the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) a seven-day extension to file a supplementary chargesheet in the NEET-UG 2026 paper leak case. Special Judge Ajay Gupta of the Fast Track Court passed the order on Wednesday following a request from the CBI. The next hearing in the matter is scheduled for October 7.

Earlier, on September 25, the court had extended the judicial custody of all the accused until Wednesday. On the same day, the court heard arguments on framing charges on behalf of two of the accused. All the accused appeared before the court through video conferencing.

On September 16, the court had permitted accused Dr. Manoj Shirure to sign documents required for obtaining his bank statements for the purpose of filing his income tax returns. The court is currently hearing arguments on the framing of charges against the accused.

The Delhi High Court had earlier dismissed a petition challenging the arrest of accused Dhananjay Lokhande. The High Court also imposed a fine of Rs. 25,000 on Lokhande. On August 22, the Rouse Avenue Court rejected Lokhande’s application seeking a copy of his arrest memo. Earlier, on August 14, the court had permitted the CBI to conduct further investigation in the case.

On August 12, the court took cognisance of the chargesheet filed by the CBI against 13 accused. Those named as accused include Yash Yadav, Mangilal Biyal, Dinesh Biyal, Vikas Biyal, Shubham Khairnar, Dhananjay Lokhande, Prahlad Kulkarni, Tejas Harshad Kumar, Dr. Manoj Shirure, Shivraj Raghunath Motegaonkar, Manisha Waghmare, Manisha Mandhare and Manisha Sanjay Havalder.

The CBI registered an FIR against the accused under Sections 315(5), 318(4), 61(2), 238 and 303(2) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita; Sections 13(2) and 13(1)(a) of the Prevention of Corruption Act; and Sections 10, 3, 4, 5 and 11 of the Public Examinations (Prevention of Unfair Means) Act.

During the hearing on the chargesheet, the CBI submitted that the FIR was registered on May 12, following which the investigation was launched with the assistance of 72 officers and eight cyber-forensic experts. The agency conducted searches at 92 locations across Maharashtra, Rajasthan, Haryana, Delhi and other states. The first arrest in the case was made on May 13.

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Hindusthan Samachar / Jun Sarkar