NEET-UG 2026 was cancelled. Here is what three weeks of reporting established

This is a summary of reporting published by other outlets, written by NOT SCRIPTED. The underlying facts come from Indian Express's education, legal and national coverage between May 12 and May 31, 2026, and from what the National Testing Agency told the Supreme Court in a filed affidavit. Readers who want the full accounts should go to those reports.

The sequence that the reporting established is clear. NEET-UG 2026 was cancelled after allegations that the question paper had leaked. The agency told the court on May 29 that it had taken all the precautions it could and had scrapped the exam after receiving inputs of malpractice. The cancellation was therefore an agency decision under pressure, not a court order, which is a distinction that matters for who bears responsibility.

What the investigation had reached

By May 28 the Central Bureau of Investigation had arrested thirteen people, among them a Latur-based doctor and a Pune teacher. Indian Express also reported that some candidates had been required to surrender original documents and return later to pay fees, and that the government was examining using the Air Force to transport question papers for a retest. The Supreme Court called the episode very traumatic for students and parents and set the next hearing for July.

• Cancellation: the NTA scrapped NEET-UG 2026 after inputs of malpractice, according to its affidavit to the Supreme Court.
• Arrests: thirteen people in the CBI net by May 28, including a Latur-based doctor and a Pune teacher.
• Remedies: the NTA extended the fee-refund deadline to June 22 and told the court it would use AI tools for 85% of exam translation.
• Court: the Supreme Court set the next hearing for July 2026.

Two further items belong in the same file because they concern the same institution in the same period. Indian Express reported on May 30 that CUET-UG 2026 was disrupted nationwide by a technical glitch that delayed exams for thousands, and on May 28 that CBSE had answered allegations about an on-screen marking contractor while calling the claims misleading. Neither is the NEET story. Both are the same institution's month.