In his application, Dhananjay Nivrutti Lokhande sought the Shrimaan Yogi, a 1,000-plus page biographical novel on Shivaji Maharaj; the Hanuman Chalisa, composed by Saint Goswami Tulsidas in the 16th century; and texts of the Mangal Strota. (Special Arrangement)The alleged middleman in the 2026 NEET-UG ‘paper leak’ case has approached a Delhi court, seeking directions to jail authorities to provide him with three texts in judicial custody.In his application, Dhananjay Nivrutti Lokhande sought the Shrimaan Yogi, a 1,000-plus page biographical novel on Shivaji Maharaj; the Hanuman Chalisa, composed by Saint Goswami Tulsidas in the 16th century; and texts of the Mangal Strota.A Delhi court Tuesday allowed the application.“Considering the facts and circumstances and the submissions made on behalf of A-8 (accused 8), jail authorities are directed to provide the religious book to the accused… (which shall be supplied by any of his family member/ authorised counsel) subject to security check and jail manual rules…,” said Special Judge (Fast Track Court) Ajay Gupta in his order dated September 1.According to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), which is investigating the case, Lokhande allegedly had a key role in circulating the “leaked paper”.Also Read | Under paper leak shadow, NTA looks for spaces for exam centres; seeks AICTE support next year“… Accused Lokhande, who is known to (co-accused) Shubham Khairnar, collected NEET examination 2026 material from co-accused Manisha Waghmare, who is a resident of Pune… Lokhande, after receiving the… paper, further transmitted (it) to accused… Khairnar,” the CBI had submitted earlier.The CBI probe into the case has found that three subject experts took exam questions out of the National Testing Agency (NTA) office in Delhi using different methods – one allegedly scrawled questions on paper chits before hiding them while two others memorised the questions, and returned to their hotel rooms to either write them down or mark the relevant paragraphs in NCERT textbooks.According to the CBI, they could do this because they were not frisked while exiting the “confidential section”, a wing situated on the first floor of the NTA office, which also lacked a dedicated CCTV live feed monitoring control room.Story continues below this adAlso Read | This is how experts took exam questions out of testing body NTA’s officeTill date, the agency has made 13 arrests in the case.More than 22.7 lakh aspirants appeared for the May 3 exam, which was cancelled by the NTA following the alleged leak. The retest took place on June 21 and the results were declared on July 16.Nirbhay Thakur is a Senior Correspondent with The Indian Express who primarily covers district courts in Delhi and has reported on the trials of many high-profile cases since 2023. Professional Background Education: Nirbhay is an economics graduate from Delhi University. Beats: His reporting spans the trial courts, and he occasionally interviews ambassadors and has a keen interest in doing data stories. Specializations: He has a specific interest in data stories related to courts. Core Strength: Nirbhay is known for tracking long-running legal sagas and providing meticulous updates on high-profile criminal trials. Recent notable articles In 2025, he has written long form articles and two investigations. Along with breaking many court stories, he has also done various exclusive stories. 1) A long form on Surender Koli, accused in the Nithari serial killings of 2006. He was acquitted after spending 2 decades in jail. was a branded man. Deemed the “cannibal" who allegedly lured children to his employer’s house in Noida, murdered them, and “ate their flesh” – his actions cited were cited as evidence of human depravity at its worst. However, the SC acquitted him finding various lapses in the investigation. The Indian Express spoke to his lawyers and traced the 2 decades journey. 2) For decades, the Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) has been at the forefront of the Government’s national rankings, placed at No. 2 over the past two years alone. It has also been the crucible of campus activism, its protests often spilling into national debates, its student leaders going on to become the faces and voices of political parties of all hues and thoughts. The Indian Express looked at all court cases spanning over two decades and did an investigation. 3) Investigation on the 700 Delhi riots cases. The Indian Express found that in 17 of 93 acquittals (which amounted to 85% of the decided cases) in Delhi riots cases, courts red-flag ‘fabricated’ evidence and pulled up the police. Signature Style Nirbhay’s writing is characterized by its procedural depth. He excels at summarizing 400-page chargesheets and complex court orders into digestible news for the general public. X (Twitter): @Nirbhaya99 ... Read More Tags:Central Bureau of InvestigationNEET