The family’s home in Khera Khurrampur village in Gurgaon. (Express Photo)

Yash, a first-year student at an Ayurvedic college in Uttarakhand, is currently lodged in judicial custody while investigators probe allegations that leaked examination material was circulated among candidates before the medical entrance examination.

Back at home, preparations were underway for his elder sister Neha’s wedding on June 23. Relatives started arriving at the family’s house and decorations were being planned.

Amid the celebrations, the family is awaiting a Delhi court decision on June 16 on Yash’s plea for interim bail — to appear for the NEET-UG re-examination scheduled on June 21 and attend his sister’s wedding two days later.

“Yash was abruptly taken away by a few men in the middle of the night. We had no idea why he was being summoned. Since then, our father has been running around for help with my brother’s case,” said Neha, a law student at SGT University in Gurgaon.

Earlier this month, the court had allowed Yash to keep study material while in custody after his lawyers argued that he was preparing for the re-examination. “The books have reached him,” his lawyer, Ambika Yadav, told The Indian Express ahead of the hearing.

On his interim bail application, she said, “One ground is the NEET examination. We are waiting for his admit card. The second is his sister’s marriage. If the court is kind enough to grant interim bail, let’s see.”

Even as he studies behind bars, uncertainty hangs over whether he will be allowed to take the test at all. During the hearing on his interim bail plea, the court noted that no admit card had yet been issued to him and sought clarity on whether the National Testing Agency (NTA) would permit an accused in the paper leak case to appear for the examination.

According to his lawyer, no official communication on that issue has yet reached the defence. “Nothing has been specified. Nothing has been sent in writing. What is happening between the CBI and NTA is not in our knowledge,” Ambika said.

Family maintains his innocence

For the family, however, the legal proceedings are only one part of a difficult month.

When The Indian Express visited Khera Khurrampur on Sunday, relatives and neighbours described a household caught between celebration and anxiety.

Yash’s mother, who suffers from blood pressure-related ailments, told The Indian Express that the family has been struggling to cope with the sudden arrest.

Neha has maintained that her brother has been wrongly implicated. “They have not found any evidence or money trail linked to my brother unlike the others. He is unfairly inside,” she said.

According to the family, Yash had returned home from Uttarkashi earlier in March this year after suffering a foot injury and was preparing to take the NEET examination again. He had hoped to secure admission to an MBBS programme through another attempt at the examination.

The case

The case stems from the cancellation of the NEET-UG examination held on May 3 after authorities alleged that question papers had been leaked before the test. More than 22.7 lakh candidates had appeared for the examination nationwide.

According to the CBI, which is probing the case, Yash was among a group of students who allegedly received leaked examination material through a larger network that investigators claim involved candidates, intermediaries, teachers and individuals linked to examination processes.

Yash, the probe agency said, allegedly received PDF files containing leaked questions through Telegram and subsequently distributed them further. The agency has also alleged that money changed hands in connection with the leaked material.

Investigators claimed the alleged network began when Rajasthan resident Mangilal Biwal sought access to the question paper for his son, Vikas. According to the CBI, the paper was first leaked by Shubham Khairnar from Nashik, Maharashtra, and passed through multiple individuals, eventually reaching several candidates.