The National Testing Agency (NTA) has withheld the Joint Entrance Examination (JEE) Mains Session 1 results for 68 candidates due to unfair means. This marks a significant increase in cheating cases compared to last year, when 39 candidates faced similar action.
JEE Mains 2026 Cheating Cases Rise
These results were withheld following irregularities during identity verification. The NTA has not specified the exact number of impersonation cases. The surge in violations occurred despite the NTA implementing enhanced security measures for the 2026 exam.
New Verification Measures Implemented
For the first time, the NTA utilized OTP-based Aadhaar e-KYC as the primary authentication method during registration to prevent impersonation. Candidates also underwent mandatory biometric attendance and were subjected to frisking upon entry and after any bio-breaks.
Under NTA rules, candidates found guilty of unfair practices can be barred from future exams for up to three years. Criminal proceedings are also possible.
Exam Statistics and Toppers
The JEE Main Session 1 results were released for over 13.04 lakh candidates who appeared between January 21 and January 29 for the BE and BTech Paper 1.
The largest group of candidates, 517,336, belonged to the OBC-NCL category. General category candidates followed with 452,825 appearances.
2026 JEE Main Session 1 Toppers
A total of 12 male candidates achieved a perfect score in the exam. Rajasthan produced the highest number of toppers with three students. Out of these 12 toppers, 11 are from the general category and one is from the OBC-NCL category.
Ashi Grewal from Haryana was declared the female topper with an NTA score of 99.9969766.