The Union government is likely to bring an amendment Bill in Parliament next week, increasing the punishment for individuals involved in unfair means, including leaks of question papers of public examinations, from three to five years’ imprisonment to five to 10 years, while also increasing the fine from Rs 10 lakh to Rs 50 lakh. The draft Public Examinations (Prevention of Unfair Means) Amendment Act, 2026, which was approved by the Cabinet on Friday and circulated among MPs on Saturday, also increases the punishment for organised crime of unfair means in public examinations from imprisonment of at least five years to at least seven years and the fine from at least Rs 1 crore to at least Rs 10 crore. The draft amendment Bill also provides for a ‘Special Task Force’ to investigate the cases of unfair means, with a timeline of two months for the investigation.
For the trial of the cases, the Bill provides for the setting up of special fast-track courts. The Bill was approved by the Cabinet a day after Prime Minister Narendra Modi made an announcement to the effect, in response to the ongoing students’ protests demanding the resignation of Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan over the leak of the NEET-UG paper in May. For the purposes of providing a speedy trial on day-to-day basis, every state government and Union Territory administration shall, in consultation with the Chief Justice of the concerned high court, by notification, designate a court of session, to be a special fast track court to try offences under this Act.
The trial should be completed within three months of filing the chargesheet. Cases pending in courts would be transferred to the fast-track courts upon commencement of the Act. The Public Examinations (Prevention of Unfair Means) Act, 2024 was enacted to prevent people from resorting to unfair means in public exams.
However, recent incidents of question paper leakages and malpractices in examinations have led to the need for amendments to further strengthen the fairness and credibility of the public examinations system. The Act covers all examinations conducted by the Union Public Service Commission, the Staff Selection Commission, the Railway Recruitment Board, the Institute of Banking Personnel Selection, and the National Testing Agency, which conducts the NEET exam.
