New Delhi [India], June 9 : The Rouse Avenue Court rejected the bail plea of Manisha Waghmare, an accused in the NEET UG 2026 paper leak case.
Waghmare was arrested in connection with the case of leaking the NEET UG examination paper. The detailed order of the court is yet to be uploaded.
The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) had opposed the bail application, alleging that Waghmare was a “conspirator” who obtained the leaked NEET examination paper and further distributed it. The agency also alleged that she received money from students in exchange for the question paper.
On June 5, the court had reserved its order on Waghmare’s bail plea after hearing submissions from Advocate Shreyas Gacche, appearing for Waghmare, and Senior Public Prosecutor Neetu Singh, appearing for the CBI.
Counsel for Waghmare had submitted that she is an educational consultant who referred students to teachers and received commission for the same. It was also argued that further police custody of Waghmare had not been sought.
The defence further submitted that no incriminating evidence was recovered from her residence during a two-day search and no cash was seized from her house. Her counsel also stated that she is a certified educational consultant.
Seeking bail on medical grounds, the defence submitted that Waghmare suffers from vertigo and had been hospitalised on Monday. The court, however, asked the counsel to file an appropriate application regarding her medical condition, observing that the jail hospital was equipped to deal with such ailments.
Opposing the bail plea, the CBI submitted that it had several statements relating to bank transactions linked to the case. The agency further alleged that Waghmare was involved in obtaining and distributing the leaked examination paper.
The CBI told the court that it had statements from students claiming they paid money for the question paper.
On May 30, the Rouse Avenue Court issued notice to the CBI on Waghmare’s bail plea. The bail application was filed through advocates Shreyas Gacche and Shubham Gawande.
According to the CBI, Manisha Waghmare and Prahalad Kulkarni were involved in a conspiracy to obtain and distribute the leaked NEET UG examination paper.
The agency alleged that Kulkarni, a retired chemistry teacher, was in contact with Waghmare through Manisha Mandhare and distributed the examination paper to various people through Waghmare.
The CBI further alleged that Waghmare gave the leaked examination paper to Dhananjay Lokhande of Pune and remained in contact with him.
The agency had sought custody of Waghmare and Kulkarni to investigate the larger conspiracy and identify other accused involved in the paper leak.
The CBI had also stated that it wanted “to identify locations where questions were revealed to certain candidates”.
Counsel for Waghmare had earlier argued that her custody was illegal and alleged that she was kept in illegal custody by Pune Police on the instructions of the CBI.
It was also submitted that Waghmare had been arrested solely on the basis of the disclosure statement of Dhananjay Lokhande and that there was no other evidence against her.
As per the CBI investigation, Dhananjay Lokhande, known to accused Shubham, allegedly collected the NEET UG 2026 examination material from co-accused Manisha Waghmare, a resident of Pune, and further transmitted it to accused Shubham Madhukar Khairnar. (ANI)