Lok Sabha passes anti-paper leak Amendment Bill; govt says open to learning from experiences

Lok Sabha on Wednesday approved a bill to amend the antipaper leak law with stricter punishment with government asserting that the measure was taken as it is open to learning from experiencesThe Public Examination Prevention of Unfair Means Amendment Bill 2026 was introduced in the House by Union minister Jitendra Singh on July 27 days after largescale student protests led by the Cockroach Janta Party forced Dharmendra Pradhan to resign as the education ministerSpeaking in Lok Sabha on Wednesday Singh said the government acted swiftly in the NEET paper leak case and as many as 52 FIRs have been lodged since the antipaper leak law came into force in 2024The amendment bill indicates that the government is open to learning from experience he said noting that the rate of suicide related to paper leaks has also reduced over the last few yearsSingh criticised Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi stating that he lacks knowledge of parliamentary norms and the functioning of the governmentExpressing disappointment over sloganeering by the opposition parties during the passage of the bill the minister saidInstead of debating it seriously and offering suggestions attempts are being made to politicise itI am surprised by the behaviour of the leader of opposition he saidOn Monday Singh introduced the bill to amend the antipaper leaks law with stricter punishment of up to 10 years in jail and Rs 50 lakh fine amid protests and sloganeering by the Opposition demanding a response from the government over the police crackdown on students during the CJPled July 20 protest march to ParliamentProtests by opposition parties over the NEET issue led to daily disruption of proceedings in the first week of the Monsoon session of ParliamentThe 2024 law was brought in when the government faced raging paper leak controversies Before this legislation there was no specific substantive law to deal with unfair means adopted or offences committed by various entities involved in the conduct of public examinations by the central government and its agenciesThe Act aimed to prevent unfair means in the public examinations conducted by the Union Public Service Commission UPSC the Staff Selection Commission SSC the railways banking recruitment examinations and the National Testing Agency NTA among othersResponding to Congress leader Gaurav Gogois remarks alleging that on innocent children atrocities and oppression were inflicted Singh said utmost restraint was exercised and it was made sure that casualties do not happenAccording to the Public Examinations Prevention of Unfair Means Amendment Bill 2026 investigations into paper leak cases are to be completed within two monthsThe bill says that individuals involved in paper leaks or unfair means in exams will get jail terms for a minimum of 5 years and a maximum of 10 years and a fine of up to Rs 50 lakhFor organised crimes the bill proposes a minimum sentence of seven years and a fine of up to Rs 10 croreThe amendment bill seeks to empower all the state governments and UT administrations to designate any court of session to be a special fasttrack court to try offences under the proposed lawIt also provides that the proceedings in such courts are continued on a daytoday basis and the trial is completed within three months from the date of filing of the charge sheetIt also empowers the central government to constitute a special task force for investigation of any offence if necessaryThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever