Union Cabinet approved a new anti-paper
leak Bill on 24 July 2026
¨
Union Cabinet approved a
new anti-paper leak Bill on 24 July 2026.
¨
The Bill is scheduled to
be introduced in Parliament during the second week of the Monsoon Session.
¨
The proposed legislation
aims to strengthen measures against paper leaks in public examinations.
¨
It is linked to incidents
involving the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET) and other public
examinations.
¨
Public examinations
include recruitment tests, entrance examinations, and other examinations
conducted by public authorities.
¨
Paper leaks,
impersonation, and unauthorised access to question papers are treated as unfair
means under examination laws.
¨
The Public Examinations
(Prevention of Unfair Means) Act, 2024 was enacted to curb such offences.
¨
Under the legislative
process, a Bill becomes law only after it is passed by both Houses of
Parliament and receives the President's assent.
¨
The Lok Sabha and Rajya
Sabha examine the Bill, consider amendments, and vote on its final version.
¨
A Bill approved by the
Union Cabinet is first introduced in Parliament before further discussion and
scrutiny.
¨
To strengthen examination
security, fast-track courts have been established to handle paper leak cases.
¨
In previous paper leak
incidents, accused persons were arrested and imprisoned, and a retest was
conducted for around 22 lakh students.
¨
Other examination
security measures include question paper encryption, sealed transportation,
biometric verification, and strict monitoring at examination centres.
¨
The Public Examinations
(Prevention of Unfair Means) Bill, 2024 was introduced in the Lok Sabha on 5
February 2024.
¨
The Public Examinations
(Prevention of Unfair Means) Act, 2024 came into force on 21 June 2024.
¨ The Act provides for imprisonment and a fine of up to ₹1 crore for using unfair means in public examinations.
¨ NEET is one of the major examinations that has been associated with recent concerns over paper leaks.
