₹10 crore fine, 10 years jail: New anti-paper leak bill tabled today is tougher than the existing Act | Here's how

The Union government, on Monday, 27 July, introduced in the Lok Sabha a bill to provide for stricter measures to check paper leaks, amid protests by opposition parties in the House against the police action during the student agitation over the NEET issue.

Soon after the Public Examinations (Prevention of Unfair Means) Amendment Bill was introduced by Union Minister Jitendra Singh, Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla adjourned the House till 2 PM due to continuing protests by the Opposition.

They were demanding a response from the government over the police crackdown on students during the CJP-led 20 July protest march to Parliament.

What does the new Bill propose?

The proposed law aims at prevening unfair means in public examinations conducted by specified public examination authorities. These include: (i) Union Public Service Commission, (ii) Staff Selection Commission, (iii) Railway Recruitment Boards, (iv) Institute of Banking Personnel Selection, (v) National Testing Agency, (vi) Ministries of the central government and their attached offices, and (vii) other authorities notified by the central government.

Seeking to amend a two-year-old anti-paper-leak law, the bill has been introduced following the over-month-long student protest over the NEET-UG paper leak and other issues. Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan resigned over the row on Saturday.

“In recent years, there have been some incidents of question paper leakages and malpractices in examinations conducted by public examination authorities, which tend to affect the transparency and fairness of the public examination system," reads the statement of objects of the bill.

"Hence, in order to further strengthen the fairness, to enhance the credibility of the public examinations system and to facilitate speedy trial and ensure time-bound investigations of offences under the said act, it is necessary to make amendments in the said Act,” the bill reads.

10-year jail term for unfair means

Anyone resorting to ‘unfair means and offences’, shall be punished with imprisonment for a term not less than ‘five years but which may extend up to ten years and with fine up to fifty lakh rupees,’ according to the proposed law.

The service provider can be punished with a fine of ₹5 crores, and the proportionate cost of examination shall also be recovered from the service provider, who will be barred from any responsibility for a public examination for eight years, it says.

At present, the jail term for unfair means and offences is three to five years, with a fine of ₹10 lakh, as per the 2024 bill. Similarly, the fine for service providers was set at one crore, with a four-year ban, as per the current bill.

New sections in the paper leak bill

The proposed bill inserts two new sections — 12A and 12B — for speedy probe and trials. The new sections say a central investigating agency or special investigation team shall complete the probe “within a period of two months from the date of a reference made to it by the central government.”

The 2024 bill stipulated an investigation by federal agencies. In the new bill, the Centre retains the authority to constitute a dedicated special task force to handle high-stakes or cross-state examination fraud.

Investigations into offences under the Act must be completed within two months to prevent procedural delays.

Here are the key highlights from the new Bill as summarized by PRS Legislative Research,Institute for Policy Research Studies

- Debarment of service providers:The Act also debars a service provider engaging in unfair means for four years, from being assigned any responsibility for conduct of any public examination. The Bill enhances the period of debarment to eight years.

-Special Task Force for investigation:Under the Act, the central government may refer investigation of offences to any central investigating agency. The Bill empowers the central government to constitute a special task force to investigate offences.

-Timeline for investigation: The Bill adds that investigation of an offence must be completed within two months.

-Timeline for trial: The Bill adds that trial must be conducted on a day-to-day basis, until all the witnesses in attendance have been examined. The Court may adjourn beyond the following day, if necessary, after recording reasons in writing. Trial must be completed within three months from the date of filing of the chargesheet. Trial must be completed within three months from the date of transfer

- Special Fast Track Courts:The Bill requires every state and UT to designate a Court of Session as a Special Fast Track Court to try offences under the Act. The Special Fast Track Courts will also try any connected offences under the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023 or other laws, in the same trial. Every state and UT must also appoint one or more special public prosecutors for each Special Fast Track Court. All pending cases under the Act will stand transferred to Special Fast Track Courts.

-Appeals:The Bill adds that appeals against judgments, sentences, or orders of the Special Fast Track Courts will lie before a bench of two Judges of the High Court. Appeals must be disposed of, as far as possible, within three months from admission. Appeals against orders granting or refusing bail will also lie before the High Court. Appeals must be filed within 30 days of the order. The High Court may entertain delay for sufficient cause, but no appeal may be entertained after 90 days

(With agency inputs)