New Anti-Paper Leak Bill Proposes 5-10 Years Jail, Rs 50 Lakh Fine

The government on Monday introduced The Public Examinations (Prevention of Unfair Means) Amendment Bill, 2026 in the Lok Sabha. The legislation amends the Public Examinations (Prevention of Unfair Means) Act, 2024 and comes in the wake of nationwide student protests over paper leaks in public examinations, including NEET.

Union Minister of State in the Prime Minister’s Office Jitendra Singh tabled the Bill. The move took place amid chaotic scenes in the House as Opposition members raised slogans demanding answers on alleged excesses during the police crackdown on protesters, including the July 20 march towards Parliament.

The revised law significantly hardens penalties. For individuals involved in unfair means such as paper leaks, the jail term has been increased from the earlier three-to-five years under the 2024 Act to five-to-ten years. The fine has been raised from Rs 10 lakh to Rs 50 lakh. In cases found to be organised, the Bill proposes a minimum sentence of seven years and a fine of up to Rs 10 crore.

The draft lists 15 specific illegal acts as offences. These include leaking question papers, tampering with OMR sheets, creating fake websites and issuing fake admit cards.

To speed up the process, the Bill mandates that investigations into paper-leak cases must be completed within two months. States and Union Territories will be empowered to set up fast-track courts that can finish the trial within three months of the chargesheet being filed. The Centre will also have the authority to constitute a special task force to investigate certain cases.

Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla appealed to members to participate in the discussion rather than continue sloganeering. He described the Bill as a first step towards improving the public examination process and said the government would try to incorporate improvements suggested by members. When protests continued, the House was adjourned till 2 pm and later till 5 pm.

The student-led protests, spearheaded by the Cockroach Janta Party, had ended on Saturday after former Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan resigned and the government accepted key demands. The Opposition has since shifted its focus to Home Minister Amit Shah over the handling of the demonstrations, including the reported use of pellet guns.

Separately, the government has announced a task force headed by Infosys co-founder Nandan Nilekani to recommend reforms aimed at making the public examination system leak-proof.

The new Bill is the latest legislative response to the crisis of confidence in competitive exams that triggered weeks of student unrest across the country.