A Delhi court on Friday denied bail to paediatrician Manoj Shirure, a key accused in the 2026 NEET UG paper leak case noting that the paper leak caused “disrepute to the nation”.“It is widely known that the paper leak of NEET (UG) 2026 has severely impacted millions of NEET aspirants in India and abroad. In case, the allegations against the accused persons involved in the present case as presented till date, are taken on their face value then same would prima-facie show that in order to satisfy their greed and to gain illegal wealth, they not only sabotaged the entire process of NEET (UG) 2026 exam which was supposed to be conducted fairly and flawlessly but by their aforesaid illegal acts, they have also brought disrepute to the Nation,” said Special Judge Ajay Gupta of Rouse Avenue Court in his order dated July 24.Also Read | NEET paper leak probe: Latur-based doctor, Pune teacher in CBI net; 13 arrests so farThe key allegations against Shirure were that Siddhivinayak Hospital in Latur which was run by him was used to “facilitate access to a chemistry question paper in April 2026”, weeks prior to the exam.As per the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) which is investigating the case, “Dr Manoj Bhagwanrao Shirure facilitated Aditya Motegaonkar, son of co-accused Shivraj Raghunath Motegaonkar, to take the chemistry question in the applicant’s hospital in the third week of April 2026 and that an amount of Rs. 5 lakhs was obtained from the wife of said accused and allegedly seized from the sister’s house”.“Further, their abhorrent and illegal acts have also eroded the trust of the honest students in the process of this exam, who prepare for the exam with full zeal and honesty and by burning the mid-night oil, in order to compete with their fellow candidates on the basis of their sheer skill and competence,” Judge Gupta said.“…it is prima-facie clear from the investigation carried out by the CBI and the incriminating material collected by them till date, that present accused is one of the active conspirators of an organizedpaper leak gang who allegedly played an active role in leaking the NEET (UG) 2026 exam paper well before the scheduled date of examination i.e. 03.05.2026,” he added.Also Read | NEET paper leak probe: Latur-based doctor, Pune teacher in CBI net; 13 arrests so farThe CBI which was represented by Senior Public Prosecutor Neetu Singh had earlier submitted before a Delhi court that out of 136 handwritten questions recovered from the phone of an arrested Latur coaching centre owner, 111 matched the master question sets prepared by the National Testing Agency (NTA). These questions were recovered from the cell phone of Shivraj Motegaonkar, who runs Renukai Chemistry Classes in Latur and a YouTube channel, Motegaonkar Sir’s RCC, with 1.68 lakh subscribers.Senior PP Singh also argued that the paper leak caused several students to commitsuicide, and it caused a loss of more than Rs.600 crores to the government exchequer. He also told the court that papers of the re-examination had to be sent to the exam centres through helicopters.Story continues below this adAlso Read | ‘I have a 1% chance of getting my eyesight back’: The 19-year-old struck by pellets during the CJP protestAs per the agency, Motegaonkar obtained the questions on the premises of Siddhivinayak Hospital. The CBI had claimed that the questions were allegedly leaked by NTA panel member and translator P V Kulkarni.“The allegations disclose prima facie involvement of the applicant / accused Dr Manoj Bhagwanrao Shirure in an organized examination fraud/conspiracy, the investigation is sensitive and larger in scope, and release of the applicant / accused Dr Manoj Bhagwanrao Shirure at this stage is likely to prejudice the investigation and/or trial,” the CBI submitted before the court.Earlier, the Court had denied bail to co-accused Manisha Sanjay Waghmare on June 9. The orders on the bail pleas of other accused persons is pending.Also Read | Named in an FIR for participating in CJP protests? Here’s what happens nextAccording to the CBI, the PDF files of the leaked question papers were sold through Telegram for Rs 10 lakh.Story continues below this adTill date, the agency has made multiple arrests in the case, including various teachers and students from Delhi, Jaipur, Gurgaon, Nashik, Pune, Latur, and Ahilyanagar.More than 22.7 lakh aspirants appeared for this year’s exam on May 3. Following the “leak”, the NTA cancelled the exam on May 12. The retest took place on June 21 and the results were declared on July 16.