NEET paper leak: Delhi court allows CBI to collect accused's handwriting specimen again

New Delhi: A Delhi court has allowed CBI's plea seeking further specimen handwriting or signatures of an accused in the NEET paper leak case.

Special Judge Ajay Gupta was hearing the agency's plea seeking additional handwriting samples of accused Manisha Sanjay Havaldar.

The prosecutor told the court that Havaldar shared handwritten physics questions with co-accused Manisha Mandhare, she also dictated physics questions to another accused, Tejas Harshad Kumar Shah, and during the investigation, handwritten images containing physics question notes were recovered from Mandhare's phone.


He said the court has already permitted CBI to obtain the specimen handwriting of the accused on May 30. Still, the prosecutor said that since the record of this case is bulky, to compare each document in a fair manner and for fair investigation, further specimen handwriting or signatures of the accused are required.

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In an order passed on Wednesday, the court said, "CBI is permitted to take the further specimen handwriting/signatures of accused Manisha Sanjay Havaldar, in the concerned jail."

"Jail superintendent is directed to make necessary arrangements for obtaining the specimen handwriting/signatures of the accused for three days (July 27-29 during office hours) by the CBI officials, in the presence of an independent witness (to be brought by CBI)," it said.

The agency has arrested 13 accused persons in the case, all of whom are in judicial custody.

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On May 12, the National Testing Agency cancelled the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (Undergraduate), or NEET-UG, held on May 3 for medical admissions amid allegations of paper leak.

A re-exam was then held on June 21.