Jail term, Rs 10 lakh fine for paper leaks: Bihar's new Bill amid NEET row

The Bihar anti-paper leak Bill also mandates that if a service provider, whether govt or private agency, engages in malpractice, it will face a Rs 1 crore fine and a four-year suspension of services

Amid the ongoing NEET-UG paper leak row, the Bihar Assembly, on Wednesday (July 24), approved an anti-paper leak Bill through a voice vote, aimed at strengthening measures against irregularities in critical examinations.

The Bill mandates severe penalties for those involved in such malpractices, including prison terms of three to five years and fines of Rs 10 lakh.

Additionally, if a service provider, whether a government entity or a private agency, engages in malpractice, it will face Rs 1 crore fine and a four-year suspension of services. The accused service provider will also be made to provide a portion of the total cost of conducting the examination.

 

What is the anti-paper leak Bill in Bihar?

The Bihar Public Examinations (Prevention of Unfair Means) Bill, 2024, seeks to address issues like the leaking of question or answer papers, which have previously led to the cancellation of several examinations.

Presented by state Parliamentary Affairs Minister Vijay Kumar Chaudhary, the Bill was passed by voice vote amid an opposition walkout.

This new legislation targets malpractices in competitive examinations, including the leaking of question papers. Bihar has notably been at the center of the NEET 2024 question paper leak controversy.

The public examinations in Bihar are conducted by entities like the Bihar Public Service Commission, Staff Selection Commission, and Bihar School Examination Board, collectively known as Public Examinations Authorities (PEA). The organisations which conduct these exams are known as the service providers, for example, the National Testing Agency (NTA).

NEET-UG paper-leak case in Bihar

The Nitish Kumar-led Bihar government passed the Bill following a significant controversy stemming from the NEET-UG paper leak scam.

The Economic Offences Unit (EOU) of Bihar Police, investigating the NEET-UG 2024 paper leak, discovered that medical aspirants paid substantial sums, ranging from Rs 30 lakh to Rs 50 lakh each, to obtain question papers before the May 5 examination from brokers.

Taking over the probe from Patna Police on Friday, the offence unit seized various documents, including bank cheques and candidate roll codes, from the accused’s flats.

The accused operated an education consultancy firm promising to assist examinees in competitive exams and were arrested on May 5.

In February 2024, the Centre enacted the Public Examinations (Prevention of Unfair Means) Act, 2024, to curb examination malpractices. Assam, Arunachal Pradesh, and Rajasthan have passed similar Bills.

[With inputs from PTI]