Law Providing Punishment For Paper Leaks and Unfair Means In Public Exams Takes Effect From 21st June

BY: THE LEX TIMES

The Union Government has announced that the Public Examinations (Prevention of Unfair Means) Act, 2024, will take effect from June 21. Although the Act was passed by Parliament on February 9, 2024, and received Presidential assent on February 12, 2024, it had not been implemented because the Government had not issued a notification until now. Yesterday, the Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances, and Pensions issued a notification declaring, “In exercise of the powers conferred by sub-section (2) of Section 1 of the Public Examinations (Prevention of Unfair Means) Act, 2024 (1 of 2024), the Central Government hereby appoints the 21st day of June, 2024 as the date on which the provisions of the said Act shall come into force.”

The Act sets forth penalties for actions such as “leakage of question paper or answer key,” “unauthorized assistance to candidates in public examinations,” and “tampering with computer networks or systems.” Both individuals and institutions involved in these activities are subject to punishment.

The notification comes amid widespread allegations of question paper leaks in the NEET-UG 2024 exam. The UGC-NET exam was also recently canceled due to a similar issue. However, it is important to note that the Act will not apply retrospectively to incidents occurring before June 21.

“Unfair means,” as defined by the Act, includes: (i) unauthorized access to or leakage of question papers or answer keys, (ii) assisting a candidate during a public examination without authorization, (iii) tampering with computer networks or resources, (iv) altering documents related to shortlisting or finalizing merit lists or ranks, and (v) conducting fake exams or issuing fake admit cards or offer letters for financial gain.

Anyone found using unfair means or committing offenses under the Act will face imprisonment for a term of no less than three years, extendable to five years, and a fine up to ₹10 lakh.

Additionally, service providers engaged by public examination authorities will be subject to fines up to ₹1 crore, with the proportional cost of the examination also recoverable from them.

A “service provider” is defined as any agency, organization, body, association of persons, business entity, company, partnership, or single proprietorship firm, including associates, subcontractors, and providers of computer resource support or any related materials, engaged by a public examination authority to conduct public examinations.