Alleging that the National Testing Agency (NTA) has become a “national corruption agency”, the Congress on Wednesday (June 25, 2025) questioned the grant of bail to two people who were accused of taking money to manipulate scores in the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET).

The NTA conducts the examination, which is used for entrance to undergraduate medical programmes.

On June 23, a Mumbai court granted bail to two people, Salim Patel and Sandeep Shah, who were arrested by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on June 10. The CBI accused them of deceiving NEET-UG 2025 aspirants and their families by claiming they could manipulate scores, charging ₹90 lakh per candidate for this purpose.

Also Read | CBI arrests two for deceiving NEET aspirants by posing as middlemen

NTA transparency questioned

Kanhaiya Kumar, the All India Congress Committee in-charge of National Student Organisation of India, addressed a press conference on the issue. Noting the CBI claim that no NTA official is involved in this case, Mr. Kumar asked the Anti-Corruption Act has then been invoked to take action against the two accused.

“Once again, questions have been raised on the transparency of NEET and the agency [NTA] which conducts the test. We are not raising these questions. The questions have risen from the CBI’s FIR. The CBI registered an FIR in Maharashtra, in which two arrests were made under the Anti-Corruption Act,” Mr. Kumar said.

“The CBI is saying that no NTA official is involved in this case. If so, why action was taken under the Anti-Corruption Act… Is it possible that such a big scam happens in the exam without the connivance of any official?” Mr. Kumar asked.

There has been no response from the CBI or the NTA on the questions raised by the Congress, he said. NSUI president Varun Chaudhary was also at the press conference.