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A Delhi Court has recently rejected a plea seeking to defer arguments on charge in a case related to the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test-Undergraduate (NEET-UG) paper leak being probed by CBI.

Special Judge Ajay Gupta of Rouse Avenue Courts rejected the application of one of the accused seeking deferment of arguments on charge until the filing of a supplementary chargesheet.

The Court observed that the CBI has a statutory right to carry out further investigation and file the supplementary chargesheet after completion of the same, and the same can be done by the Investigating Agency even at the stage of the trial of the case.

“Thus, under these circumstances, it cannot be said that the supplementary charge sheet qua the further investigation permitted by this court cannot be allowed to be filed after framing of the charge,” the Court said.

It added that the investigation qua 13 accused is complete and thus, the matter was proceeded further to hear the arguments on the point of charge on behalf of all these chargesheeted accused persons.

“Further, as far as the present case is concerned, the present case relates to NEET (UG) 2026 paper leak case, therefore, in view of the mandate of Public Examination Act, the proceedings of the present case are required to be conducted as expeditiously as possible and therefore, the time which is available with this court till the time supplementary charge sheet is filed, must be utilized for hearing the arguments on the point of charge from both the sides qua the material which is already placed on record,” the Court said.

It held that the record of the case was also voluminous and ran in around 20,000 pages and therefore the Court needs considerable time to ensure the completion of the arguments on the point of charge on behalf of both the sides.

“Further, since the present matter requires expeditious trial, therefore, it is expected that CBI would file the supplementary charge sheet against the newly arrested accused very soon and without unnecessary delay as was submitted by the IO today during hearing of remand application of the newly arrested accused and as soon as the same is filed, the accused persons will be afforded an opportunity to address additional arguments on the point of charge qua the new material brought on record by the CBI through supplementary charge-sheet,” the judge said.

The trial is being conducted before the designated fast-track court dealing with “criminal cases arising from paper leaks as well as the use of other unfair means in public examinations”. Special Judge Ajay Gupta had taken cognisance of CBI's final report against 13 accused persons on August 12.

NEET-UG is conducted by the National Testing Agency for medical aspirants. On May 12, the NTA cancelled the NEET-UG held on May 3 for admissions in medical courses amid allegations of paper leak. A re-examination was conducted on June 21.

Dharmendra Pradhan later resigned as education minister over the NEET paper leak row following protests.

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