Pune School Principal Accused of Sharing NEET-UG Questions for Money, CBI Tells Court

May 25, 2026 /Posted byPrajwal EW / 0

The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has told a Pune court that a school principal arrested in the NEET-UG paper leak case allegedly shared examination-related questions and content with students in exchange for money.

Manisha Sanjay Havaldar, principal of Seth Hiralal Saraf Prashala in Pune, was arrested on Friday. According to the CBI, she worked as an empanelled Physics translator for the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test Undergraduate (NEET-UG) 2026.

The agency informed the court that Havaldar allegedly colluded with botany lecturer Manisha Mandhare, who is already in custody, to share NEET-related questions and content with selected students before the examination.

Investigators alleged that Havaldar prepared and retained handwritten notes containing NEET-related questions during her assignment with the National Testing Agency (NTA). The material was allegedly circulated to students through WhatsApp messages and printouts before the examination.

The CBI told the court that Havaldar admitted to sharing Physics questions from NEET-UG 2026, which she had translated or reverse-translated, with one student and with Mandhare.

According to the agency, Havaldar allegedly received Rs 20,000 from one student and Rs 25,000 from another person. The CBI further alleged that she later deleted chats with Mandhare and burnt notes containing the Physics question bank.

Following her arrest, Havaldar was produced before a Pune court and placed in transit remand. She is expected to be produced before a Delhi court on Monday.

The NTA cancelled the NEET-UG examination held on May 3 after allegations of a paper leak surfaced. A re-examination has been scheduled for June 21.

The CBI registered a case on May 12 based on a complaint from the Department of Higher Education under the Union Education Ministry. So far, 11 people have been arrested from multiple cities, including Delhi, Jaipur, Gurugram, Nasik, Pune, Latur and Ahilyanagar.

Inputs from PTI

Also Read: CBSE extends deadline to obtain scanned copies of class 12 answer sheets

Post Views: 187

Tags: Top Picks

Add comment Cancel reply

Media Bytes

"As long as the attitude of ‘yahan sab kuch chalta hai’ remains embedded in governance and public life, the ambition of Viksit Bharat will remain difficult to achieve. The normalization of illegalities, administrative apathy, and weak oversight reflects a deeper failure of accountability. Political responsibility cannot end with autonomous institutions or be measured solely by electoral success; those entrusted with oversight must also answer for systemic failures. Until India confronts this culture of complacency and strengthens national capability, resilience and institutional integrity, its aspirations of Amrit Kaal, Vishwaguru status and global leadership will remain more rhetoric than reality."

- Vivek Katju, The Indian Express, (12/6)

"The larger issue is not political but intellectual. No serious scholar argues that Indian Knowledge Systems begin and end with Sanskrit; rather, Sanskrit served as a connective layer linking diverse philosophical, spiritual and regional traditions. While historical exclusions must be acknowledged, the answer is wider access to knowledge, not rejection of inherited traditions. India’s deeper challenge is the rupture colonial education inflicted on its knowledge culture and the tendency to separate Sanskrit from the living traditions around it. The IKS movement is not a triumphalist celebration of the past but a serious effort to rediscover, debate and revive India’s knowledge traditions, despite the inevitable exaggerations and political appropriations that accompany such a process."

- Swati Ramanathan & Ramesh Ramanathan, The Indian Express, (8/6)

Pune School Principal Accused of Sharing NEET-UG Questions for Money, CBI Tells Court

Add comment Cancel reply

Current Issue

Media Bytes

From The Archives

Good business sense