New Delhi: The fast-track court set up by the government of Delhi to hear exam paper leak cases will take up matters from as far back as 2003, the Indian Express has reported. Special Judge Anu Grover Baliga has started hearing cases in the captial’s newly set up fast-track court. Another ‘link’ judge is hearing one exam leak case after the judge was deputed to the National Green Tribunal (NGT), said the paper.The case from 2002, the Indian Express reported on Thursday (July 31), was for CAT, the Common Admission Test for management courses including Masters in Business Administration and Post-graduate Diploma in Management. It was allegedly leaked before it could be held in November 2003, affecting 1.25 lakh candidates, and was rescheduled to February 2004.The CBI submitted the chargesheet in this case in 2004. The Indian Express reports that in May 2019, the case was transferred to the Rouse Avenue Court, and nine hearings a year on average were held from then to May 2026.The publication reports that on June 3 this year, the Additional Chief Judicial Magistrate (ACJM) Neetu Nagar reserved her order on the charges due to the “heavy cause list” and because “no time was left”, saying the order would be passed on June 26.However, on June 22, she was deputed to the NGT’s Principal Bench in New Delhi, where she is currently Deputy Registrar. “The 2003 case is now before a ‘link’ judge, who is also a magistrate at the Rouse Avenue Court,” said the Indian Express.Similarly, cases from 2023 and 2024 are also pending before the Rouse Avenue court, each alleged paper leak affecting tens of thousands of aspirants.Also read: Supreme Court Proposes Special Courts To Fast-Track 2023 Manipur Violence Cases Which Remain PendingExam paper leak cases across several states are set to be transferred to fast-track courts following the prime minister’s announcement on July 23 that this would be the government’s response to the nationwide student and youth protests. These courts would hear all paper leak cases – not just the NEET-UG paper leak, the focus of the Jantar Mantar protests.The Wire reported earlier this week on how fast-track court in Delhi got off to a rocky start on July 27 as the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), which is investigating another exam paper leak case as well, failed to show up for the very first hearing. On that day, two bail applications in the case were to be heard.Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) national spokesperson Saurav Das told PTI on July 28 that a fast-track court “is just a band-aid measure”. “You saw it in action yesterday, I think this was the incident where the CBI counsel did not appear before the fast-track court. So, it doesn’t really solve anything because the system needs to change holistically,” he said.On July 28, the CBI submitted its chargesheet in the NEET-UG paper leak case before the same New Delhi fast-track court. It, however, sought three more days to submit the annexures, which, said a report in the New Indian Express, the agency was in the “process of scanning”. The annexures run into 20,000 pages, said the publication. The next date of hearing is August 3.Paper leak cases are being heard in ordinary as well as special courts across the country. All of these will now be transferred to new fast-track courts, where the pendency has been escalating, burdening the justice system. As a result, not just the students agitating against repeated paper leaks, even the political opposition have pointed out the flaws in the prime minister’s idea.Pendency in fast-track courts, Department of Justice, Government of India. Pendency is the highest in Uttar Pradesh, followed by Maharashtra.“With what face is the Modi Government tom-tomming fast-track courts as a solution to the crisis of paper-leaks? Its own CBI is showing zero initiative in investigating and prosecuting these cases,” said Congress MP Jairam Ramesh.On 23rd July, the Delhi High Court set up a Special Fast Track Court in Delhi’s Rouse Avenue complex to hear the NEET-UG 2026 Paper leak case.Tellingly, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) failed to dispatch a legal representative to the inaugural hearing of this fast…— Jairam Ramesh (@Jairam_Ramesh) July 27, 2026The Calcutta high court announced new fast-track courts, said reports on Friday (July 31). The announcement includes three new courts in Kolkata and two in Andaman and Nicobar Islands. Each bench will hear separate sets of cases: those being investigated by the CBI will be heard by a different bench. West Bengal has 88 existing fast-track courts, which will continue to function as before.In Bihar as well, new fast-track benches have been annouced for Patna, Lakhisarai and Purnea. These still have to be notified by the state government.Madhya Pradesh, too, has said it will set up fast-track courts in response to the prime minister’s call. One of the most infamous exam leak cases emerged from the state, the so-called Vyapam medical entrance exam test ‘scam’, largely involving impersonation and cheating, is still being investigated.Vyapam is an acronym for the state “Vyavsayik Pariksha Mandal”, a set of 13 examinations, for which over three million students appear each year. The CBI has been involved in this probe since 2015. It said in December 2025 that its investigation has led to the conviction and sentencing of 12 accused persons to 5 years rigorous imprisonment and a fine of Rs 6,000 each in one of the 32 Vyapam cases.