Maharashtra begins withdrawing FIRs from NEET protest cases

Many students in Maharashtra were upset because they believed the NEET medical entrance exam had a paper leak.

They joined protests, and police registered cases, called FIRs, against more than a thousand people in Mumbai alone.

Now the Maharashtra government has started the process of withdrawing these cases.

However, the cases will not close right away.

Police must first finish investigations and file chargesheets.

Then committees will review the cases, and finally a court will decide whether to withdraw them.

The government has extended the deadline for filing chargesheets to March 31, 2027.

A government source said the move was rushed because the student protest cases were a priority.

This was one of the key demands of the protest organizers after the largely peaceful agitation was called off.