Delhi court allows NEET UG paper leak accused to give retest in custody

3 min readNew DelhiJun 16, 2026 05:39 PM IST

Yash Yadav, an accused in the NEET UG paper leak case. (File Photo)

A Delhi court Tuesday allowed Yash Yadav, an accused in the NEET UG paper leak case, to give the NEET retest scheduled on June 21 in custody.

“… while the applicant does face grave allegations of wrongful dissemination and trading of confidential questions of the very examination in which he now seeks to appear, his rights as a student cannot be defeated by turning bail into punishment by denial of the opportunity to appear in the examination,” said Special Judge Dr Vishal Gogne of Rouse Avenue Court in his order dated June 16.

“More so, when the eligibility, candidature and selection of any student in an examination is subject to appropriate orders from the competent authorities/exam conducting body. In this view, the court finds the applicant to be entitled to appear for the examination on 21.06.2026,” he added.

Yadav had sought interim bail citing the retest as well as his sister’s wedding. His lawyer had also stated the alternative of allowing him to give the exam in custody.

Judge Gogne did not grant interim bail to Yadav. “… considering the initial stage of the investigation, the wide sweep of the material and evidence sought to be collected and the prospect of other suspects being still investigated, the court is not inclined to grant interim bail to facilitate such participation,” the court said.

It added, “The application is allowed with permission to applicant/accused Yash Yadav to take the examination dated 21.06.2026 and also attend the marriage ceremony of his sister on 22.06.2026 in judicial custody.”

This means police will escort him to the exam venue and to the wedding, and he will be under the supervision of the officers. He will be back in jail after these two days (June 21 and 22).

Story continues below this ad

Yadav, from Gurgaon, is a 20-year-old student at Uttarakhand Ayurveda University and a NEET aspirant who appeared in the now-cancelled May 3 exam.

According to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), which is investigating the case, Yadav allegedly received PDF files of leaked question papers through Telegram and sold them for Rs 10 lakh. The agency claimed he was instrumental in distributing the “leaked” paper.

Nirbhay Thakur is a Senior Correspondent with The Indian Express who primarily covers district courts in Delhi and has reported on the trials of many high-profile cases since 2023.

Professional Background

Education: Nirbhay is an economics graduate from Delhi University.

Beats: His reporting spans the trial courts, and he occasionally interviews ambassadors and has a keen interest in doing data stories.

Specializations: He has a specific interest in data stories related to courts.

Core Strength: Nirbhay is known for tracking long-running legal sagas and providing meticulous updates on high-profile criminal trials.

Recent notable articles

In 2025, he has written long form articles and two investigations. Along with breaking many court stories, he has also done various exclusive stories.

1) A long form on Surender Koli, accused in the Nithari serial killings of 2006. He was acquitted after spending 2 decades in jail. was a branded man. Deemed the “cannibal" who allegedly lured children to his employer’s house in Noida, murdered them, and “ate their flesh” – his actions cited were cited as evidence of human depravity at its worst. However, the SC acquitted him finding various lapses in the investigation. The Indian Express spoke to his lawyers and traced the 2 decades journey.

2) For decades, the Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) has been at the forefront of the Government’s national rankings, placed at No. 2 over the past two years alone. It has also been the crucible of campus activism, its protests often spilling into national debates, its student leaders going on to become the faces and voices of political parties of all hues and thoughts. The Indian Express looked at all court cases spanning over two decades and did an investigation.

3) Investigation on the 700 Delhi riots cases. The Indian Express found that in 17 of 93 acquittals (which amounted to 85% of the decided cases) in Delhi riots cases, courts red-flag ‘fabricated’ evidence and pulled up the police.

Signature Style

Nirbhay’s writing is characterized by its procedural depth. He excels at summarizing 400-page chargesheets and complex court orders into digestible news for the general public.

X (Twitter): @Nirbhaya99 ... Read More

Tags:

legal news india

NEET