UGC-NET "paper leak": CBI enquiry concludes that evidence was fabricated

According to government officials who spoke to The Indian Express, the CBI investigation into the purported UGC-NET paper leak has discovered that the "evidence" that prompted the Education Ministry to call off the exam on June 18, one day after more than 9 lakh applicants took it in 317 cities, was manipulated.

On June 19, the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) informed the Centre that “the integrity of the examination may have been compromised,” leading to the cancellation of the exam that is required for admission to PhD programs at Indian institutions and entry-level teaching positions.

The input consisted of a screenshot of a UGC-NET paper that was making the rounds on a Telegram group at 2:00 pm on exam day, June 18, along with comments and messages indicating that it had likely been leaked before of the first session.

Two sessions are held for UGC-NET: One from 3 to 6 pm and the other from 9.30 am to 12.30 pm.

Suspicious chats about the exam were found on Telegram. Government cancelled the UGC-NET exam due to these concerns. Investigation revealed the chats might be fake. It's unknown if the exam will be re-run. A possible retest window is Aug 21st to Sept 4th, but not confirmed yet.

In the UGC-NET case, the CBI has not yet made any arrests. Sources believe that the strategy was figured out by examining the digital trail and screenshot of the messages that were exchanged on the Telegram channel where the paper leak allegations were made. The organisation must submit a report in the case soon.

The two papers have a combined duration of three hours, and they should be completed in one sitting without a break. Multiple-choice (MCQ) questions of the objective type are present in both papers. There are two papers, totalling fifty in Paper 1 and one hundred in Paper 2, totalling 150 questions. The exam does not have negative marking.

Twice a year, in June and December, UGC-NET is held. This test was once administered by the NTA using a computer, however this year it was administered using paper and pencil once again.