Mumbai: When Pradeep Kumar Joshi’s name was recommended for the post of the Madhya Pradesh Public Service Commission (MPPSC) chairperson, an internal note was circulated by the MP Special Branch of the police, meant for the secretary to the chief minister, vetting his name.

The Wire has reviewed a copy of the internal note, provided to Bhopal-based activist Ajay Dubey under the Right to Information Act. The note should have brought up any red flags.

It listed out his then-employment status and plainly stated a truth: Joshi, a Jabalpur-based professor, had close links with top Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leaders Murli Manohar Joshi – news reports have called him his kin – as well as former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee.

As if that would suffice.

It did. And days later, Joshi was sworn into the constitutional post of the MPPSC chairperson, in charge of conducting exams for all aspirants who want to enter into government service, a role he would later run into controversies for.

The same man, Joshi, now heads the National Testing Agency (NTA), the agency which has been in charge of conducting leak-ridden competitive exams like the National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test (NEET), whose leak in May sparked off massive protests and led to at least 12 aspirants taking their own lives.

While Dharmendra Pradhan’s role as the education minister has received scrutiny, Joshi’s role seems to have evaded it.

Joshi has had a charmed career. In the last 20 years, he has occupied plum positions of power across different BJP-ruled states as well as in New Delhi under the Modi government. In nearly every position, controversies have followed him in the form of paper leaks, irregularities and allegations of favouritism and incompetence.

However, Joshi has emerged out of all of these unscathed. His profile has only risen through these controversies – from the MPPSC chairperson, to the chairperson of the Chhattisgarh Public Service Commission, to being promoted as a member, and later the chairperson, of the all-important Union Public Service Commission and now, the NTA chief under the Modi government.

The Wire can count at least 13 instances of controversies, disruptions and even leaks that have marked his 20-year-long career. In his current role alone, Joshi has presided over at least 11 instances of leaks and disruptions in only three years

Retired IAS officer Anil Swarup, who also served as education secretary, speaking on the ‘Wone’ podcast last week, questioned the lack of accountability around Joshi.

“The reputation of any organisation, its credibility, depends upon who is leading it. No one is discussing who the NTA chairman is and what his antecedents are,” Swarup complained. “The 2024 paper leaked, nothing happened (to him). 2026 leaked, there is no discussion. You keep firing employees, but it is very important to see who is leading an organisation. Who you have appointed to lead an organisation is a political decision,” Swarup said.

Scrutinising his record, The Wire found that Joshi’s tenures across all these posts saw multiple paper leaks, repeated irregularities, delays and controversies around the exams conducted by the organisations he helmed.

In fact, it was under him that the NTA saw a dubious first – in its ten-year history, the NEET had never leaked, nor had it ever needed a re-test. Under Joshi, in May 2026, the NEET Undergraduate (UG) test had to be cancelled since the questions had leaked, and over two million aspirants were forced to take a re-test.

This failure by the NTA, under Joshi, proved to be devastating for countless aspirants and their families who had slogged for years, pouring in resources and efforts to be able to give the exam their best shot.

When the NTA announced a re-test, many aspirants couldn’t bear the thought of having to do it all over again. Sana Shaikh, a 19-year-old aspirant, had aced the NEET exams held on May 3, and had been thrilled with her outing. A day........

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