The National Testing Agency (NTA) has rejected allegations that a candidate's OMR answer sheet was interchanged during the NEET-UG 2026 re-examination, saying a forensic examination found that the document circulating on social media was a fabricated, AI-generated version of the candidate's genuine answer sheet.
The clarification comes after claims surfaced online that a candidate who appeared for the NEET-UG re-exam on June 21 had been uploaded another student's OMR sheet, leading to an incorrect evaluation. The allegation was amplified on social media by a political party.
Education Ministry sources told NDTV that the representation submitted by the candidate's family was examined on merit and that the OMR sheet produced for scrutiny "turned out to be fake and AI-generated".
"A written response has been sent to the family, placing the findings on record and enclosing a copy of the genuine OMR sheet. The result stands as declared because it is based on the candidate's own genuine answer sheet," the sources said.
The case pertains to candidate Avaneesh Srivastava. According to the sources, students and parents have been advised to submit only original OMR sheets for scrutiny, warning that submission of fake or AI-generated documents could invite legal action.
NTA has also formally informed the complainant of the findings of its investigation.
According to the agency, the OMR sheet on record against the candidate's roll number carries his correct name, parents' names, signature and thumb impression, and was evaluated through the prescribed process. The result declared on July 16 was based on that original answer sheet.
The image circulating online, however, is "not the OMR sheet on record with NTA" but a digitally altered version of the candidate's own answer sheet in which only the identity fields were changed, the agency said.
The agency said the Test Booklet Number, answer sheet barcode, Test Booklet Code and the shading pattern across all 180 answers in the circulated image were identical to those on the genuine sheet.
"Two different candidates cannot have identical barcodes, identical booklet numbers and identical marking patterns across all 180 questions. Only the identity fields have been changed," the sources said.
NTA further said the identity inserted into the circulated image - "Ajeet Singh, son of Shri Lakhan Singh and Smt. Reena Singh" - does not correspond to any candidate registered for NEET-UG 2026.
"A search of the full candidate database returned no match. There has been no mix-up of answer sheets because no such second candidate exists," the agency said.
The forensic examination, according to the agency, also found multiple technical indicators suggesting digital or AI-based document regeneration. It said the circulated image was nearly six times the resolution of the institutional scan, the answer markings had shifted from black to blue-purple, and the thumb impression appeared as a saturated colour block lacking natural ridge detail.
The agency also pointed to what it described as numerous typographical anomalies in the pre-printed portions of the document, which it said could not exist on an authentic NTA-issued OMR sheet.
Among the examples cited were distorted text such as "Roll Ne" instead of "Roll No.", "correctly Nilled" instead of "correctly filled", column headers reading "2.No." and "G.No." instead of "Q.No.", incorrect question numbering sequences, and a candidate declaration containing nonsensical phrases including "partic alam", "signaroen", "am uater in an Ancandance Sheet", "OFFICF Copy" and "hureby desloxa".
The agency said such errors are consistent with AI- or OCR-based document regeneration, where software generates plausible-looking text without accurately reproducing the original.
"This is not a case of a mix-up between two candidates' answer sheets. It is a case of a fabricated image being presented as if it were an official NTA record," the agency said.
It added that the conclusion was based not on a single discrepancy but on multiple factors, including the identical barcode, booklet number and marking pattern across all 180 questions, along with the use of a fabricated identity that does not exist in the NEET-UG 2026 database.
The agency said every genuine representation received through its grievance redressal mechanism is examined on merit and that this complaint had also been investigated accordingly. It added that the genuine OMR sheet and the annotated forensic comparison are available for inspection by any competent authority seeking to examine the matter.
The agency said it is continuing to examine the matter and will take legal action if warranted.
