Anti-paper leak law provides for ten years of imprisonment, ₹1 cr fine
Patna, July 24 (HS): Bihar, one of the centers of many paper leaks including NEET-UG exam, passed a tough bill from the Bihar Assembly on Wednesday to prevent irregularities in government examinations. The bill passed in the monsoon session of the Assembly provides for a jail term of up to 10 years and a fine of one crore for both individuals and organizations found involved in irregularities in examinations. It also has a provision for confiscation of property of those found guilty. It also makes it difficult for those arrested to get bail.
The Bihar Public Examination (PE) (Prevention of Unfair Means) Bill, 2024 was introduced by state Parliamentary Affairs Minister Vijay Kumar Choudhary on Wednesday and passed by voice vote amid a walkout by the opposition. The opposition's walkout was aimed at protesting against anarchy and non-granting of special status to Bihar.
It is noteworthy that on Tuesday, the Supreme Court passed an order in the NEET-UG paper leak case saying that there will be no re-examination of NEET-UG. The Supreme Court bench headed by Chief Justice DY Chandrachud had also noted that the exam paper was leaked at least in two centers, Patna in Bihar and Hazaribagh in Jharkhand.
There have been several paper leaks for state-level examinations in Bihar and gangs from the state have also been found to be involved in leaking papers or tampering with the examination process for national entrance examinations. The state's paper leak bill comes after the notification of a central law last month.
Under the Public Examinations (Prevention of Unfair Means) Act, 2024, which was notified on June 21, any person or persons found guilty of leaking papers or tampering with answer sheets will be sentenced to a minimum of three years in jail. This can be extended to five years with a fine of up to Rs 10 lakh. All offenses under the Act will be cognizable and non-bailable.
Examination service providers who have information about a possible crime but do not report it can be fined up to one crore. If during the investigation it is established that a senior official of the service provider allowed or was involved in the crime, he will be imprisoned for a minimum of three years, which may extend to 10 years, and a fine of one crore can be imposed. If the examination authority or the service provider commits an organized crime, the jail term will be a minimum of five years and a maximum of 10 years and the fine will be one crore.
It is worth noting that about 24 lakh students appeared for NEET-UG 2024 for undergraduate medical courses conducted by the National Testing Agency (NTA) on May 5. The results were declared on June 4, 10 days ahead of schedule, but protests started across the country after the question paper was leaked and grace marks were given to more than 1,500 students. Cases were also filed against it in other courts including the Supreme Court.
