The Key Numbers
48L
Candidates affected when UP Police Constable 2024 was cancelled and later re-conducted after a leak
22.7L
Candidates affected by the NEET UG 2026 leak, cancelled just 9 days after the exam, re-conducted 40 days later
1.24Cr
Total candidates affected across all six exams on this page, combined
6 of 6
Exams on this list that were eventually re-conducted. Zero that resulted in a lost year for the affected batch
Before The Case Files
Why These Six
These six are not a ranking of severity, and they are not the only exams on record cancelled over a paper leak. They are the ones with a clean, undisputed candidate count and a clear official record, no conflicting figures, no numbers that had to be guessed at. They also span both state-level recruitment exams and national ones, and states across the political spectrum, not one part of the country.
UP Police Constable 2024 affected roughly 48 lakh candidates, nearly double NEET UG 2026's number, and it is genuinely the exam most people outside Uttar Pradesh have never heard was cancelled at all. NEET gets national television coverage every single year it happens. A state police recruitment exam largely does not, even when it affects more people, Bihar Police Constable 2023 got a fraction of NEET's coverage too, despite affecting more candidates than all but two of the other cases here. The order below follows no ranking, each case file covers exactly the same set of facts regardless of scale.
The Case Files
Six Exam Leak Cases, Full Breakdown
Tap a case file to open it. Each one covers, in this exact order: what happened, how the paper leaked, the official action taken, the candidate count, and where the case stands as of July 2026. These are six separate records, not a countdown.
📄 UP Police Constable Recruitment 202448 lakh candidates affected +
What Happened
The exam was originally held over two days, February 17 and 18, 2024, for 60,244 constable posts. Within days, the state government cancelled it after a question paper began circulating on social media and messaging apps before or during the exam window.
Mechanism of the Leak
Investigators traced the leak to former employees of the private company contracted to transport the question papers, who colluded with some of the firm's serving staff to access and circulate the paper before the exam.
Official Action Taken
A Special Task Force (STF) investigation was ordered. The three alleged masterminds were arrested, with the total number of arrests in the case reaching 54 as the probe widened. The state government also removed Renuka Mishra as chairperson of the UP Police Recruitment and Promotion Board over the episode, and separately notified the UP Public Examination (Prevention of Unfair Means) Ordinance 2024 on July 1, 2024, with penalties up to life imprisonment and a one crore rupee fine for future offences.
Candidate Count
Over 48 lakh candidates appeared for the re-conducted exam, spread across five days in August 2024, roughly 28.91 lakh in the phase one shift pattern and 19.26 lakh in phase two.
Current Status
Closed and re-conducted. The re-exam ran August 23, 24, 25, 30 and 31, 2024, results were released, and recruitment proceeded. Re-exam complete
Source: Careers360, BusinessToday, The Print, Deccan Herald.
📄 NEET UG 202622.7 lakh candidates affected +
What Happened
NEET UG 2026 was held on May 3, 2026. The National Testing Agency scrapped the exam on May 12, 2026, after investigations found overlaps between a pre-circulated guess paper and the actual question paper.
Mechanism of the Leak
Investigators traced the origin to Nashik, Maharashtra, with the network extending to Sikar, Rajasthan. A courier employee is alleged to have provided temporary access to trunks carrying the question papers, which were then digitally copied and routed onward before the exam.
Official Action Taken
The CBI took over the investigation and arrested more than a dozen people connected to a multi-state solver and leak network. The exam was scrapped and a fresh Re-NEET was announced rather than relying on any partial fix.
Candidate Count
Around 22.7 lakh candidates had appeared for the original May 3 exam, and a comparable number sat for the re-conducted exam.
Current Status
Re-conducted on June 21, 2026. The CBI investigation is still ongoing, with several accused in judicial custody as the agency traces the network behind the leak. Separately, on the institutional response: Parliament's Standing Committee on Education, Women, Children, Youth and Sports reviewed the re-exam's conduct and progress on NTA reforms on July 1, 2026, and the Standing Committee on Health and Family Welfare examined the NTA, the National Medical Commission and NEET's overall conduct on July 16, 2026. A government steering committee has since been overseeing a restructuring of the NTA, including a recruitment drive opened July 24, 2026, for roles focused specifically on exam security and technology. Investigation ongoing
Source: SCC Times, India TV News, Daily Pioneer, and for the parliamentary review and NTA restructuring, Medical Dialogues, Organiser and Global Education News.
📄 UPTET 202120 lakh candidates affected +
What Happened
Paper 1 of the UP Teacher Eligibility Test was scheduled for November 28, 2021. It was cancelled the same day, hours before or as the exam began, after the paper leaked.
Mechanism of the Leak
The paper spread through WhatsApp groups active in Mathura, Ghaziabad and Bulandshahr shortly before the scheduled start, with answers to questions going viral on those groups.
Official Action Taken
The state's Special Task Force arrested 23 people using technical and field intelligence across multiple UP cities, and the Chief Minister said the National Security Act and Gangster Act would be invoked against those responsible. The paper was cancelled outright rather than partially rescheduled.
Candidate Count
Roughly 20 lakh candidates had registered for the cancelled paper.
Current Status
Closed and re-conducted on January 23, 2022, with no additional fee charged to candidates who had already registered. Re-exam complete
Source: India.com, Careers360.
📄 UGC NET June 20249.08 lakh candidates affected · CBI later found no confirmed leak +
What Happened
The UGC NET exam was held on June 18, 2024. It was cancelled the very next day, June 19, 2024, on the education ministry's order, after the exam had already taken place.
Mechanism of the Leak
The cancellation followed intelligence from the Home Ministry's Indian Cyber Crime Coordination Centre indicating the paper had leaked and was circulating on the darknet.
Official Action Taken
The matter was handed to the CBI, which registered an FIR against unidentified persons. A candidate challenged the cancellation in court, and the Supreme Court declined to entertain the plea, holding that interfering with the government's decision to hold a retest at that stage would cause what the bench called "utter chaos."
Candidate Count
9.08 lakh candidates had appeared for the exam out of roughly 11.21 lakh registered.
Current Status
Update: the CBI's own closure report later found no evidence of an actual paper leak, tracing the "leaked paper" claim circulating at the time to a doctored screenshot shared by a student. That finding did not reverse the cancellation or the re-exam, both stood. Both the original leak-based cancellation reasoning and this later finding are part of the honest record here. Case closed by CBI, no leak confirmed
Source: Careers360, and for the closure-report update, Deccan Herald.
📄 AIPMT 20156.3 lakh candidates affected +
What Happened
The All India Pre-Medical Test 2015 was conducted by CBSE on May 3, 2015. The Supreme Court cancelled it over a month later, on June 15, 2015, citing large-scale irregularities.
Mechanism of the Leak
Petitions before the Court showed candidates using electronic devices during the exam to receive answer keys from outside, an organised cheating method rather than a pre-exam paper theft.
Official Action Taken
The Supreme Court cancelled the exam outright and ordered CBSE to conduct a re-test within four weeks, rejecting CBSE's own argument against cancellation and holding that the scale of the malpractice could not be overlooked.
Candidate Count
Roughly 6.3 lakh candidates had appeared for the original exam across 1,050 centres nationwide.
Current Status
Closed and re-conducted on July 25, 2015, within the Court's own four-week deadline. Re-exam complete
Source: Republic World, Tilak Marg.
📄 Bihar Police Constable Recruitment 202318.3 lakh candidates affected +
What Happened
The exam was held on October 1, 2023, across 529 centres in 37 districts, for 21,391 constable posts. The Central Selection Board of Constables (CSBC) cancelled it within days after widespread reports of cheating and a paper leak during the test itself.
Mechanism of the Leak
Bihar's Economic Offences Unit (EOU) found an organised gang had leaked the paper in advance and sold access to it, with some candidates also caught during the exam using electronic devices and pre-written answer sheets.
Official Action Taken
The EOU registered 67 FIRs across 21 districts and arrested 148 people in the initial crackdown, later arresting the alleged mastermind and freezing roughly 1.5 crore rupees linked to the case. Two further exams already scheduled that October were postponed as a precaution.
Candidate Count
Over 18 lakh candidates appeared for the cancelled October 1 exam.
Current Status
Closed and re-conducted across seven dates in August 2024 (August 7, 11, 18, 21, 25, 28 and 31), with 18,33,387 candidates registered and 11,95,101 appearing. Results were released and recruitment proceeded. Re-exam complete
Source: Careers360, The Week, Business Standard.
Same Six, By The Numbers
Candidates Affected, By Exam
Not a ranking, just the raw scale of each case side by side, plus more than these six exist, see the note below.
A Seventh Case, Presented Differently
REET 2021: Included, With Its Disputed Numbers Stated Plainly
The six cases above all involve Uttar Pradesh or central government bodies, because of the scale of those specific exams, not because of who governs them. REET 2021 is added here to state that plainly with a real example: a leak that happened under a different state and a different party in power, handled with the same seriousness. It sits apart from the six above for one honest reason, its own candidate count is genuinely disputed, no exam body ever published an isolated figure for the paper that leaked.
📄 REET 2021 (Level 2)~16 to 20+ lakh candidates, figure disputed Numbers disputed +
What Happened
The Rajasthan Eligibility Examination for Teachers (REET) 2021 was held in September 2021 under the Congress government led by Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot. The Level 2 paper leaked before the exam and circulated in advance.
Mechanism of the Leak
The paper was leaked ahead of the exam and reached organised cheating networks, including a device-assisted ring that sold candidates Bluetooth-fitted footwear to receive answers during the test.
Official Action Taken
The state government sacked Rajasthan Board of Secondary Education (RBSE) chairman D.P. Jaroli and several senior board officials on January 29, 2022. Rajasthan Police's Special Operations Group (SOG) investigated, with arrests reported in the mid-30s across different accounts, sources don't fully agree on the exact number, which is consistent with how disputed this case's figures are generally.
Candidate Count, Disputed
Most sources put total REET 2021 turnout at approximately 16 lakh. Other reports cite higher figures, and it isn't always clear whether a given number covers Level 1 and Level 2 combined or Level 2 alone. No exam body ever published a clean, isolated Level 2 figure, this is the specific gap that keeps REET out of the six-case group above.
Current Status
Level 2 was cancelled and re-conducted for an expanded 62,000 posts, up from the original 32,000. Closed. Re-exam complete
Source: Shiksha, India.com, DNA India, Zee News, National Herald, Careers360.
If You're Preparing Right Now
What This Means If Your Exam Gets Disrupted Like This
Three things worth knowing before you need them, not after.
- ✓The law changed in 2024. The Public Examinations (Prevention of Unfair Means) Act 2024, in force since June 21, 2024, treats organised leaks as a serious offence in their own right, five to ten years imprisonment and a fine that does not go below one crore rupees for organised offences, with service providers facing a one crore rupee fine and a four-year ban from conducting public exams. Before this Act, most leak cases leaned on general cheating and forgery law, with far lighter consequences.
- ✓Every exam on this page was eventually re-conducted. UP Police Constable within six months, UGC NET within weeks, UPTET within about eight weeks, NEET UG 2026 within six weeks, AIPMT 2015 within the Supreme Court's own four-week window, and Bihar Police Constable 2023 within about eleven months, the longest gap of the six and still under a year. A leak has never meant a lost academic year for the affected batch in any of these six cases. It has meant disruption, re-registration, and a compressed prep window, not erasure.
- ✓Where real information comes from, if it happens to you: the conducting body's own website and verified handles, not forwarded WhatsApp messages or Telegram channels. In every case here, the actual re-exam date and process came from NTA, the state recruitment board, or UGC directly, while unverified messages spread false dates and rumours in the gap beforehand.
- ⚠What not to panic about: a cancellation notice is not, by itself, evidence that your own performance or preparation was wasted. Re-exam timelines across these six cases have run from a few weeks to about eleven months, not years. The honest move is to keep preparing on your existing timeline until an official new date is out, not to freeze or assume the worst before the conducting body has even announced anything.
Frequently Asked
Questions Worth Answering Directly
Has a paper leak in India ever meant the affected batch lost a full year?
Not in any of the six cases on this page. UP Police Constable 2024 was re-conducted within six months. NEET UG 2026 was re-conducted within six weeks of cancellation. UPTET 2021 was re-conducted within about eight weeks. UGC NET June 2024 was re-conducted within weeks of the cancellation order. AIPMT 2015 was re-conducted within the four-week window the Supreme Court itself set. Bihar Police Constable 2023 was re-conducted within about eleven months, the longest gap here and still under a year. A leak has meant delay and disruption every time, not a lost academic year.
What punishment does a paper leak carry under Indian law now?
Under the Public Examinations (Prevention of Unfair Means) Act 2024, which came into force on June 21, 2024, organised offences such as leaking a question paper or setting up a solver network carry five to ten years of imprisonment and a fine that does not go below one crore rupees. Service providers found responsible can be fined up to one crore rupees and barred from conducting public examinations for four years. Before this Act, most leak cases were prosecuted under general cheating and forgery provisions with far lighter penalties.
Why isn't REET 2021 on this list?
REET 2021's Level 2 paper leak was real and well documented, the state government cancelled and re-conducted that paper and dismissed the exam board chairman over it. It was left off this list because no exam body ever published a clean, Level 2 specific affected-candidate figure, and the numbers circulating in different reports for REET 2021 conflict with each other. Rather than publish a guessed number to fill a slot, it was excluded. That is a deliberate accuracy choice, not an oversight.
Are these the only exams cancelled over a paper leak in India?
No. Six cases here have a clean, undisputed candidate count and a clear official record, chosen for data quality, not geography or which party governed at the time. A seventh, REET 2021, is included separately because its own candidate figure is genuinely disputed across sources, no exam body ever published an isolated Level 2 count. Other cases beyond these seven exist with less consistent public reporting.
Does this page only cover exam leaks under one political party's government?
No. UP Police Constable 2024 and UPTET 2021 involve Uttar Pradesh, and NEET UG 2026, UGC NET June 2024 and AIPMT 2015 involve central government bodies, because of the scale of those specific exams, not because of who governs them. Bihar Police Constable 2023 happened under a different state government. REET 2021 is included as a seventh case specifically to make this point directly: it happened under Ashok Gehlot's Congress government in Rajasthan, the state board's chairman was sacked over it, and it is treated with the same seriousness as every other case here. It sits apart from the six main cases only because its own candidate numbers are disputed, not because of which party was in power.
If my own exam gets cancelled over a leak, where should I actually check for updates?
Go directly to the conducting body's own website and its verified social handles, the National Testing Agency, the relevant state public service or police recruitment board, or UGC, rather than forwarded WhatsApp messages or unverified Telegram channels. In every case on this page, the official re-exam date, admit card process and instructions were announced on the conducting body's own portal, not through informal channels, and misinformation about fake dates circulated heavily in the gap before each official announcement.
Did the UGC NET June 2024 cancellation turn out to be a real paper leak?
Not according to the CBI's own later findings. The exam was cancelled on June 19, 2024 based on inputs from the Home Ministry's cyber crime unit indicating a leak on the darknet, and the case was handed to the CBI. The CBI's own closure report subsequently stated it found no evidence of an actual paper leak, and traced the circulating leak claim to a doctored screenshot shared by a student. The cancellation and re-exam were not reversed. This page states both the original cancellation reasoning and this later finding, rather than presenting only the version that first made headlines.
If This Happens To You
A Disrupted Timeline Is Not a Derailed One
Anshul has counselled students through exam delays, cancellations and re-scheduled prep windows across NEET, CAT, CLAT and state-level recruitment exams. If a leak, postponement or re-exam has thrown off your own preparation timeline, that is exactly the kind of disruption AptiGuide's counselling helps you re-plan around, not just wait out.
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Sources: Careers360, BusinessToday, The Print and Deccan Herald for UP Police Constable 2024, including the candidate count, re-exam schedule, STF investigation and the removal of UP Police Recruitment and Promotion Board chairperson Renuka Mishra; SCC Times, India TV News and Daily Pioneer for NEET UG 2026, including the cancellation date, the Nashik-Sikar leak network and the ongoing CBI investigation as of July 2026; India.com and Careers360 for UPTET 2021, including the WhatsApp leak in Mathura, Ghaziabad and Bulandshahr, the STF arrests, and the January 2022 re-exam; Careers360 for UGC NET June 2024's cancellation, candidate count and the Supreme Court's refusal to entertain a challenge to the cancellation, and Deccan Herald for the CBI's later closure report finding no evidence of an actual leak; Republic World and Tilak Marg for AIPMT 2015's Supreme Court cancellation and CBSE re-exam; Careers360, The Week and Business Standard for Bihar Police Constable 2023's cancellation, EOU investigation and 2024 re-exam; Medical Dialogues, Organiser and Global Education News for NEET UG 2026's parliamentary standing committee reviews and the NTA restructuring; PRS India, PIB and the Public Examinations (Prevention of Unfair Means) Act, 2024 itself (via India Code) for the penalty structure under the 2024 Act; Shiksha, India.com, DNA India, Zee News, National Herald and Careers360 for REET 2021's chairman removal, SOG investigation and disputed candidate figures. All candidate counts, dates and case statuses reflect reporting available as of July 25, 2026, and are subject to revision if conducting bodies or courts issue further updates. REET 2021's own candidate count is stated as a disputed range rather than a single figure, deliberately, see its case file above for why.