The Union government introduced the Public Examinations (Prevention of Unfair Means) Amendment Bill, 2026 in the Lok Sabha on Monday, with Minister of State for PMO Jitendra Singh tabling the legislation amid widespread student protests. The bill was introduced within days of large-scale student protests against the NEET fiasco that forced Dharmendra Pradhan to resign as education minister. According to reports, the opposition demanded a response from the government over the police crackdown on students during the CJP-led July 20 protest march to Parliament. Speaker Om Birla called the names of senior opposition leaders including Saugata Roy (TMC), Manish Tewari (Congress), and NK Premachandran (RSP) who wanted to speak against the bill's introduction, with the House adjourned till 2 pm as protests continued. Soon after its introduction, proceedings in the Lok Sabha were disrupted as opposition MPs staged protests over the issue.
The Union government has introduced the Public Examinations (Prevention of Unfair Means) Amendment Bill, 2026 in the Lok Sabha to strengthen the legal framework against question paper leaks and examination-related fraud. According to the bill, the minimum punishment for persons resorting to unfair means has been increased from three years to five years, while the maximum jail term has been raised from five years to 10 years. The maximum fine has been proposed to be increased from ₹10 lakh to ₹50 lakh. For service providers found guilty of offences under the Act, the maximum fine has been proposed to be raised from ₹1 crore to ₹5 crore, while the period during which they can be barred from conducting public examinations has been doubled from four years to eight years. The present law has provisions for a minimum of three to five years of imprisonment to curb cheating, with those involved in organised crimes facing five to 10 years of imprisonment and a minimum fine of ₹1 crore. The proposed legislation raises the maximum prison term to ten years and increases the maximum fine to ₹50 lakh, significantly enhancing penalties under the existing 2024 law.
The legislation empowers the Centre to constitute a Special Task Force to investigate offences under the Act, in addition to existing provisions allowing investigations by central agencies. According to the bill, investigations into paper leak cases are to be completed within two months of a reference made by the Central government. The bill mandates that all states and UTs will be empowered to set up fast-track courts, which will conduct hearings swiftly and complete the trial within three months of filing of the chargesheet. Such fast-track courts will conduct proceedings on a day-to-day basis and the trial is to be completed within three months from the date of filing of the chargesheet. Pending cases under the Act would also stand transferred to the designated fast-track courts and be concluded within three months from the date of transfer.
For organised crimes involving examination authorities, service providers or other institutions, the proposed amendment increases the minimum imprisonment from five years to seven years and raises the minimum fine from ₹1 crore to ₹10 crore. The government has outlined 15 illegal acts including leaking question papers, tampering with OMR sheets, creating fake websites and issuing fake admit cards. The bill notes that in recent years, there have been incidents of question paper leaks and malpractices in examinations conducted by public examination authorities, which tend to affect the transparency and fairness of the public examinations system. The Centre can constitute a special task force for investigation of any offence if necessary, with the legislation providing provisions for engagement of services of other government agencies by public examination authorities and preparation of norms, standards and guidelines.
The amendments have been proposed following incidents of question paper leaks and examination malpractices in recent years. In the wake of student protests, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had promised a law to deal with cases like the NEET-UG paper leak and stated that cases of accused in such cases will be tried in fast-track courts. The CJP on Saturday called off its 36-day agitation after Pradhan resigned as education minister and the government accepted its other demands. Modi on Sunday also announced the constitution of a high-powered task force headed by Infosys co-founder Nandan Nilekani to recommend reforms to make the exam system leakproof. The 2024 law was brought in when the government faced raging paper leak controversies, with the current legislation aiming to enhance transparency and fairness in public examinations conducted by UPSC, SSC, railways, banking recruitment examinations and the National Testing Agency (NTA). The proposed changes come amid sustained concerns over alleged irregularities in competitive examinations, including the NEET-UG controversy, and growing demands from students and opposition parties for stronger legal safeguards against examination fraud.
