Educator Khan Sir on Tuesday criticised the functioning of the National Testing Agency (NTA) in the wake of the cancellation of NEET-UG 2026 amid alleged paper leak concerns, questioning both the examination system and the effectiveness of investigative agencies.
He said the NTA has failed in its administrative responsibility for high-stakes exams and expressed scepticism over the pace and outcomes of investigations typically handled by the CBI.
Speaking to ANI in Noida, Khan Sir said, “For NTA, this may be just a single exam paper; but for these students, it represents their entire life… The NTA (National Testing Agency) should be renamed the ‘Never Trustable Agency’. Their administrative system is utterly abysmal.”
He also slammed the CBI after the Government referred the matter to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) for a comprehensive probe into the allegations.
“Has CBI ever actually arrived at a concrete conclusion? … their investigation will likely still be dragging on even by the time these students have completed their entire MBBS degrees. A retired Supreme Court judge should be appointed as an observer for this case. Furthermore, a strict timeline must be established to identify those responsible, and they must be handed down severe punishment… The Prime Minister must get personally involved in this matter and ensure that the strictest possible punishment is handed down to those responsible; furthermore, the Supreme Court should also step forward to intervene.”
A major row has erupted following the Centre’s decision to cancel the NEET-UG 2026 examination, originally conducted on May 3. The move comes after allegations regarding paper leaks and irregularities. The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on Tuesday registered an FIR regarding the alleged irregularities and paper leak in the conduct of NEET-UG 2026 Exam under various sections of BNS, Prevention of Corruption Act and Public Examination Prevention of Unfair Means Act 2024.
Khan has called for stronger scrutiny of the NTA, alleging deep-rooted irregularities and possible internal involvement in repeated exam paper leak incidents.
He further argued that such cases point to systemic failure and demanded strict punishment for those responsible, saying only strong deterrent action can prevent repeated breaches in the examination system.
“In our view, while we have certainly called for the cancellation of NEET, the National Testing Agency (NTA) itself should also be cancelled alongside it. We suspect that there is a fundamental flaw within the NTA itself–that there is an insider, a mole, operating from within who, while shielding their own involvement, is indirectly orchestrating this,” Khan said.
He further said, “Undoubtedly, very influential people must be involved in this; it is simply beyond the capability of petty criminals to manage to extract exam papers directly from a printing press, transporting papers from one state to another… “
He demanded the death penalty for the guilty.
“Some institutes–not directly, but indirectly–are providing financial assistance and colluding with influential individuals who possess high-level access and connections; through these channels, they are somehow managing to procure the exam papers. They are then selling these papers for hundreds of thousands of rupees via Telegram or large WhatsApp groups… However, until strict punitive measures are instituted–and in my view, the punishment should be nothing less than the death penalty–this will persist. A single murder results in the loss of one individual life; this crime has destroyed the futures of hundreds of thousands of students.”
Khan said repeated irregularities are undermining the confidence of lakhs of students and pointing to what he described as systemic failures in preventing such incidents.
He said similar issues were reported in 2024 and noted that previous inquiries did not lead to conclusive outcomes, while also alleging that students themselves were the first to flag the suspected leak.
“This is nothing short of playing games with the lives of lakhs of students. Their confidence is being shattered, and the most unfortunate part of this whole situation is that just two years ago, in 2024, the exact same incidents occurred. A CBI inquiry was conducted, yet it yielded absolutely no results. The most astonishing thing is that no government agency detected or reported this paper leak; rather, it was the students themselves who were the first to alert the government to the situation,” he further said.
“30% of the students who come here to study are those whose mothers have either mortgaged their jewellery, whose fathers have mortgaged their farmland, or who are working as daily wage labourers somewhere. When such students arrive, there is no one to listen to their grievances. The UPSC conducts examinations, and it manages to conduct them quite competently. The NTA has descended into sheer misconduct… As long as that ultimate mastermind and the entire nexus are not dismantled–and as long as he is not publicly punished–these things will continue unabated,” Khan Sir said.
Educator Khan Sir has urged higher institutional intervention in the NEET-UG 2026 paper leak case, calling for the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) to engage with the process and for regular progress updates to restore student confidence in the examination system.
“Our appeal to the Prime Minister is that the PMO get involved in this matter and extend assistance to the Supreme Court. Furthermore, regarding the ongoing investigation, the progress of the process should be reported on a weekly basis. This is crucial because it is absolutely essential to regain the trust of the students,” he said.
He said, “At this moment, the primary impression is that people have simply adopted a shortcut route to make money. However, we certainly do not rule out the possibility that external forces might also be at play here. Forces aiming to disrupt national-level examinations and thereby shake the very foundations of the system. Education and the children of a nation constitute its very foundation… If we allow the very foundation to be weakened, the nation will inevitably have to bear the consequences some 20 to 25 years down the line. Therefore, these matters require a thorough investigation, and the Prime Minister himself should get personally involved.”
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