The Nagpur bench of the Bombay High Court (HC) on Saturday directed the National Testing Agency (NTA) to release the NEET UG 2026 result of a student belonging to Maharashtra’s Chandrapur, after the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), while probing the paper leak case, found no evidence of wrongdoing against him.

The court’s order came after the student’s result, withheld by the National Testing Agency (NTA), caused him to miss the state’s first centralised admission round, prompting him to approach the Bombay HC for relief.

CBI raid led to NEET result’s pause

The student, identified as Atharva Donadkar, took the NEET UG 2026 exam on May 3, which was cancelled by the NTA owing to the paper leak. He then took the re-test scheduled for June 21. However, his exam result was withheld after the CBI conducted a raid at his residence on May 15 as part of its investigation into the alleged NEET UG 2026 paper leak.

During the search, the central agency seized study material and a question paper bearing a roll number different from Atharva’s. The recovery became the basis for action by the NTA. Acting on the inputs received from the agency, the NTA served a show-cause notice on Atharva on July 15, seeking an explanation regarding the material recovered from his residence.

Student says papers were mock tests

Two days later, Atharva responded to the notice, submitting that the seized papers were mock practice papers supplied by his coaching institute for preparation, and were not the leaked NEET exam papers.

Despite his explanation, his NEET UG 2026 result remained withheld. Owing to the same, he faced severe consequences, as he was unable to participate in the state’s first centralised admission round for medical courses. With his career prospects hanging in balance, Atharva approached the Nagpur bench of the Bombay HC, seeking directives for the release of his results.

Court orders NTA to declare result

A division bench of the HC, comprising Justices Anil Kilor and Rajnish Vyas heard the case and directed the NTA to declare Atharva’s NEET UG 2026 result.

After receiving a confirmation from the CBI that its probe had not stumbled across any evidence of Atharva’s involvement in any malpractice, the court issued the directive. The court’s intervention has also cleared the way for the candidate to know his score and pursue the admission process, subject to the applicable rules and available seats.