The government moved the Public Examinations (Prevention Of Unfair Means) Bill, 2024 in Parliament on February 5. The bill is aimed at punishing those involved in leaks of question papers and tampering with answer sheets of public exams like the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC), Staff Selection Commission (SSC), and Railway Recruitment Boards among others.
If the bill becomes a law, those involved in leaks of question papers or tampering with answer sheets could face up to 10 years in prison and a fine of ₹1 crore.
However, it must be noted that a candidate, as defined in the bill, shall not be liable for action within the purview of the bill. The bill shall serve as a model draft for States to adopt at their discretion.
The Bill also proposes a high-level national technical committee on public examinations that will make recommendations to make the computerised examination process more secure.
Here’s all you need to know about the Public Examinations (Prevention Of Unfair Means) Bill, 2024
Examinations covered under the new Bill
-Union Public Service Commission
-Staff Selection Commission
-Railway Recruitment Boards
-Institute of Banking Personnel Selection
-Ministries or Departments of the Central Government and their attached and subordinate offices for recruitment of staff
-National Testing Agency
-Such other authority as may be notified by the Central Government
What is meant by unfair means?
Unfair means under the new bill implies any act or omission related to a public exam for monetary or wrongful gain. The organised crime of paper leak means collusion of a group of persons including the examination authority and service provider and the institution.
The “unfair means” include
(i) leakage of question paper or answer key or part thereof;
(ii) participating in collusion with others to effect leakage of question paper or answer key;
(iii) accessing or taking possession of question paper or an Optical Mark Recognition response sheet without authority;
(iv) providing solution to one or more questions by any unauthorised person during a public examination;
(v) directly or indirectly assisting the candidate in any manner unauthorisedly in the public examination;
(vi) tampering with answer sheets including Optical Mark Recognition response sheets;
(vii) altering the assessment except to correct a bona fide error without any authority;
(viii) willful violation of norms or standards set up by the Central Government for the conduct of a public examination on its own or through its agency;
(ix) tampering with any document necessary for short-listing candidates or finalising the merit or rank of a candidate in a public examination;
(x) deliberate violation of security measures to facilitate unfair means in the conduct of a public examination;
(xi) tampering with the computer network a computer resource or a computer system;
(xii) manipulation in seating arrangements, allocation of dates and shifts for the candidates to facilitate adopting unfair means in examinations;
(xiii) threatening the life, liberty or wrongfully restraining persons associated with the public examination authority or the service provider or any authorised agency of the Government; or obstructing the conduct of a public examination;
(xiv) creation of a fake website to cheat or for monetary gain; and
(xv) conduct of fake examinations, issuance of fake admit cards or offer letters to cheat or for monetary gain.
What are the punishments under the Public Examinations (Prevention Of Unfair Means) Bill?
-All offences under this Act, shall be cognizable, non-bailable and non-compoundable
-Any person or group involved in the leak of question paper or tampering with answer sheets is to be punished with a minimum of three years in jail. The prison term may be extended to five years and with a fine of up to ₹10 lakh.
-Service providers if they fail to report an offence can be fined up to ₹1 crore.
-Service providers will have to bear the cost of the entire examination and shall be banned for four years
- Director/Senior Management of the service provider could be punished up to 10 years in jail and a fine of ₹1 crore. If they default on fine payment, there can be additional imprisonment.
- Persons involved in an organised crime of paper leak shall be punished for 5-10 years and shall be liable to pay a fine of ₹1 crore.
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