Who will be held accountable for exam paper leaks? Don’t bet on it, records show most get away

For the 22 lakh medical college candidates forced to put their dreams on hold until the NEET UG retest on June 21, for the 4 lakh CBSE students left in limbo after questions were raised over the new marking system, the real test now is not just of merit — but of faith in a system.

The CBSE’s chairman and secretary may have been transferred but once the outrage dies down, chances are few will actually be held accountable. That’s what the record shows.

The Indian Express investigated the status of cases linked to 45 major exam paper leaks over the past two decades in which each exam had at least 1 lakh applicants or candidates. The findings are stark: Only two of these cases have led to convictions. Most of the rest are either trapped in legal quicksand or have simply hit a dead end. If that’s an indication of the low level of accountability, consider this as an index of immunity: two of the accused in exam leaks are now MLAs in UP.

This newspaper scrutinised case records from 2002 to 2025, covering 27 job recruitment exams and 18 higher-education entrance tests and school board examinations, and spoke to investigators and senior government officials. The findings: At least 1,658 people arrested, 925 charge-sheeted, 18 convicted in two cases, 32 acquitted in two cases, and 43 still in judicial custody. And yet, only a tiny clutch of senior officials faced action (see related report on page 8).

But more than the numbers, it’s the human cost that stings: More than 3.86 crore aspirants had enrolled for these exams hoping for jobs, college seats and high board marks — their wait stretched by up to four years, with retests of the cancelled exams taking an average of 183 days to be scheduled, an irrevocable disruption in their lives.

Read | NTA to re-conduct NEET UG 2026 on June 21

Of the 45 paper leaks identified by this newspaper, 23 involved exams conducted under BJP-ruled governments at the Centre or in states, while 14 occurred under Congress-ruled bodies and the remainder under other parties — UP topped the list with 11 leaks, followed by Rajasthan with seven and Gujarat with three. The majority of cases have remained under trial for years, with accused persons securing bail in the interim. In several instances, probe agencies either declared accused individuals untraceable or filed closure reports altogether.

Meanwhile, investigators warn that those operating paper leak networks have continuously upgraded their methods — from fax-based transmissions in the early  2000s to Bluetooth devices, remote-access software, and compromised printing firms by the 2020s.

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2 decades, convictions in 2 cases

Records show that the two cases resulting in convictions involve paper leaks in Railway Recruitment Board (RRB) exams. In the first, a CBI special court in Ahmedabad convicted seven Railway officials and one RPF constable on July 21, 2025, in connection with a leak that occurred in 2002.

The leak was traced to serving officers posted in Ahmedabad, Vadodara and Anand in Gujarat, records show. Each convicted individual was sentenced to five years of rigorous imprisonment and fined Rs 5 lakh. All of them are now on bail, with their appeal pending before the Gujarat High Court. The examination, originally scheduled for August 18, 2002, for the posts of Probationary Assistant Station Masters, drawing over 1 lakh applicants, was cancelled with one day to spare. A fresh test was conducted a year later.

The second conviction relates to a 2010 case. On January 30, 2024, a CBI court in Hyderabad sentenced former RRB-Mumbai chairman Satendra Mohan Sharma, his son, and eight others to five years of rigorous imprisonment with a combined fine of Rs 7.87 lakh. Sharma obtained bail from the Telangana High Court on February 2, 2024.

The examination, which attracted nearly 5 lakh applicants for the posts of Assistant Loco Pilots and Assistant Station Masters, had been scheduled for June 6 and 13, 2010. It was cancelled due to the leak and rescheduled for July 2011.

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Key trials stuck

Several other high-profile cases illustrate the rot within.

l The 2003 CAT paper leak, which marked the first time the gateway examination to the Indian Institutes of Management required a retest, saw the CBI arrest key accused Ranjit Don, alias Kumar Suman Singh or Indrajeet Kumar, more than two decades ago. The leak led to the formation of the V K Shunglu Committee to examine systemic failures, resulting in reforms. Over 1.25 lakh candidates had applied for the November 23, 2003 test; a retest was held in February 2004.

l The 2006 Railway Group-D leak case has logged 142 listings between 2012 and 2026 and remains at the “witness stage”. Two accused in this case, Bedi Ram and Vipin Dubey, are now MLAs in UP.

Bedi Ram, an SBSP MLA from Ghazipur’s Jakhania (SC) seat, faces five cases linked to Railway recruitment exam paper leaks, two to MP Public Service Commission exam leaks, and one to a police recruitment exam leak. Vipul Dubey, a NISHAD Party MLA from Bhadohi’s Gyanpur seat, has also been booked under the Gangsters Act in connection with the 2006 case.

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Nearly 16 lakh candidates had enrolled for the exam, which was cancelled in February 2006 and eventually held in July. A Lucknow court issued non-bailable warrants against both Ram and Dubey on July 11, 2024; their discharge applications were rejected and charges framed on July 26, 2024. The matter remains pending.

When contacted, Ram said, “All the cases against me are very old, and they are false.” Dubey said, “The case against me is fabricated.” SBSP chief Om Prakash Rajbhar and NISHAD Party chief Sanjay Nishad are both ministers in the UP government.

l In the 2015 UPPSC Prelims leak, case records show that three accused opened sealed question paper packets prematurely at a Lucknow examination centre, photographing the papers approximately one hour before the scheduled start time. Under then Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav, the leak and broader allegations about UPPSC recruitments triggered a political firestorm, with the Opposition accusing the SP leader of having “cornered” the posts of “56 out of 86” Sub-Divisional Magistrates — an allegation the state government denied.

The Allahabad High Court subsequently quashed the appointment of then-UPPSC Chairman Anil Yadav. The inquiry was transferred to the CBI, which has yet to conclude it, 11 years on. The exam on March 29, 2015, drew nearly 2.5 lakh applicants and was held again after a two-month delay.

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l The 2016 UP Public Service Commission Review Officer and Assistant Review Officer examination — a gazetted-category recruitment — also saw a paper leak at a Lucknow centre. The CB-CID of UP Police filed a closure report in September 2018, but a Special Judicial Magistrate in Lucknow rejected it in January 2020 and ordered reinvestigation. Sources said a second closure report was subsequently filed, which remains pending before the court. With nearly 2.04 lakh applicants, the exam was originally held on November 27, 2016; after the leak was detected, a re-examination was conducted nearly four years later on September 20, 2020.

l In the 2017 Himachal Pradesh Board leak, which raised suspicion about a school principal and other officials, an FIR was registered at Bhaba Nagar police station in Kinnaur and the exam re-conducted. However, police sources confirmed that an “untraceable” report was filed within months to close the case.

l Among recent cases, the NEET-UG 2024 leak from Patna and Hazaribagh resulted in multiple charge sheets against around 46 persons by the end of 2024. The matter is pending before a special CBI court in Patna. The test, which had 23.33 lakh applicants, was held on May 5, 2024, and conducted afresh on July 23, 2024.

In some key cases, the judiciary raised the red flag.

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In the 2024 UGC NET case, a Delhi court in May 2026 criticised the CBI for filing closure reports despite possessing, in the court’s assessment, evidence of a leak.

The Rajasthan High Court delivered an equally damning verdict in a separate matter. Ruling on a 2021 Sub-Inspector recruitment exam leak, Justice Sameer Jain held on August 28, 2025, that the RPSC’s “members’ participation suggests systemic corruption within the RPSC… The attack on the examination’s sanctity was not solely the handiwork of external anti-social elements but was significantly birthed and spread by these very members of the RPSC”. RPSC member Ramu Ram Raika, who was arrested in the case, is on bail; two other members, Manju Sharma and Sangeeta Arya, resigned following the judgment.

Leakers find new loopholes

According to investigators and officials, legal delays stem partly from how paper leaks are treated by the law. “Most cases were registered under IPC Sections such as 420 (cheating), 467 and 468 (forgery), and 120-B (criminal conspiracy) — all ordinary offences that carry no stringent bail conditions. Some states have brought in the Enforcement Directorate to invoke the money laundering law… UP has on occasion applied The Gangsters Act to attach properties and extend custody,” said a senior official linked to a Central investigation.

In the 2016 Karnataka PUC Chemistry paper leak, 19 individuals including senior officials and the alleged kingpin were arrested and booked under the Karnataka Control of Organised Crime Act (KCOCA). Despite this, the Bengaluru Sessions Court acquitted all of them in May 2024, citing serious investigative shortcomings.

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Leak networks have simultaneously grown more technically sophisticated. “In the early 2000s, methods were relatively direct. The 2002 RRB leak involved railway insiders using their official positions to access papers and transmit them via fax. By 2013, the SSC leak (Delhi, Haryana and UP) showed a shift to digital methods — scanned papers sent over messaging apps, with candidates using miniature Bluetooth devices to receive answers from external solvers,” a senior official said.

The 2024 UP Police Constable leak involved a Transport Corporation of India (TCI) transport company, where gang members intercepted sealed trunks and used specialised techniques to open boxes from the back or bottom while leaving front seals visibly intact.

The 2023 Bihar Police Constable leak exploited a shell-entity printing firm that diverted papers to an unauthorised private warehouse in Patna for six days. More recently, at least one case involved the unauthorised installation of remote access software such as TeamViewer, enabling off-site solvers to control candidates’ computer screens in real time.

Inside examination halls, centre-level leaks remain a persistent vulnerability. In the 2015 UPPCS Prelims, functionaries photographed papers an hour before start time. In the 2022 Bihar PSC Prelims, select candidates were secretly isolated in a locked room to solve the leaked paper. “Printing presses and outsourced logistics are among the most vulnerable links,” an officer said.