As paper-leak mafia run amok, a stringent new law is just half the story (2024)

New Delhi,UPDATED: Jun 21, 2024 17:00 IST

Imagine you are a student who has studied six months for an entrance exam. You burn the midnight oil for days before the exam, and finally, with a blend of fear and excitement, go for the test. You believe that you have done well to clear it and reach your dream career, but then there is this explosive decision that the entrance exam will be cancelled because the paper has been leaked. Your efforts have come to a naught, and your cycle restarts. Time, that never returns, has gone to waste, all thanks to the paper-leak industry.

This is what happened to nine lakh UGC-NET aspirants recently. All because, ironically, some of those aspiring to be teachers themselves took to cheating with the help of the paper-leak mafia.

The cancellation of UGC-NET exam on Wednesday was the first time a centrally-conducted public examination has been scrapped because "the integrity of the examination might have been compromised". This came days after reports of NEET medical paper-leak from some parts of the country.

Protests over the alleged malpractices in the NEET entrance exams is visible on the streets of the country, and the opposition has vowed to take it up strongly in Parliament.

The scale of paper leaks in India is huge. The paper-leak industry is a well-oiled one, destroying the dreams of crores of students and job aspirants in the last five years alone. Though a stringent law to tackle the paper-leak mafia was passed in Parliament in February, its notification is awaited. However, just a law might not be enough, and the will of the states and law enforcement officers will be crucial.

Though the latest controversy started because of malpractices in NTA-conducted central exams, the ball is actually in the court of the states to crack down on the paper-leak mafia and save the future of students and job aspirants.

70 PAPER LEAKS IN LAST 7 YEARS HIT 1.7 CRORE ASPIRANTS

The rampant occurrences of paper-leaks have made the stakeholders put a question mark on the credibility of the competitive and higher-education exams.

The prevalent norm driven by the paper-leak mafia in India for years has seen around 70 paper-leaks in the last 7 years across 15 states, reveals a recent investigation by various news sources.

These leaks disrupted the schedules of 1.7 crore applicants. The recent NEET-UG 2024 paper leak with over 24 lakh aspirants, has brought to the fore excessive control of the paper leak mafia over exams in India.

NEW ANTI-UNFAIR MEANS LAW SEEKS TO CRACK DOWN ON PAPER LEAKS

In a bid to "curb leaks, malpractices as well as organised malpractices in recruitment examinations like UPSC, SSC etc and entrance tests such as NEET, JEE, and CUET", the Narendra Modi government enacted 'The Public Examinations (Prevention of Unfair Means) Act 2024' in February.

Speaking in Parliament, Minister of State for Personnel Jitendra Singh said, "the legislation aims at safeguarding the merits of our youth and the well-being of our children".

The act to bring greater transparency and credibility to the public examination system received the assent of President Droupadi Murmu, but has not been implemented yet, according to Supreme Court advocate Anubha Shrivastava Sahai.

The Act, seeking severe penalties for those found guilty of using unfair means, including imprisonment for up to 10 years and fines of up to Rs 1 crore, is the first Act of its kind to curb the menace.

"The Act would definitely be effective in curbing incidents of paper leaks in centrally conducted exams", Anubha Shrivastava Sahai tells IndiaToday.In. "The provisions of the Public Examinations (Prevention of Unfair Means) Act 2024 would treat these offences as cognisable, non-bailable, and non-compoundable," she adds, pointing to how the new law is stringent.

Before the overarching law was brought in, the provisions of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and the Code of Criminal Procedure were not only insufficient to effectively punish the offenders of paper leaks, their implementation was an impediment as well.

"The provisions of the new law will make sure a convict does not walk out of jail in just 6 months, like in some cases from the past where provisions of the Indian Penal Code were used. The increased jail-term would definitely discourage such incidents," says Advocate Anubha, who is also the President of India Wide Parents Association.

The law passed in February also has provisions to crack down on organised groups or institutions involved in paper leaks, with harsher punishments. However, it is yet to be notified.

Not only is the anti-cheating law awaiting to be notified, even the rebranded IPC and CrPC are yet to be implemented.

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, seeking the deferment of the implementation of The Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNA) 2023, The Bharatiya Sakhsya Act (BSA) 2023, and The Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS) 2023. She said the laws had been passed "unilaterally" on a day when "almost 100 members of the Lok Sabha had been suspended".

STATES MUST IMPLEMENT NEW ANTI-UNFAIR MEANS LAW

Although the new law meant to crack down on the paper-leak mafia is comprehensive, it only includes the examinations that the central government conducts through its agencies, like the Union Public Service Commission, the Staff Selection Commission, the National Testing Agency, the Railway Recruitment Boards, the IBPS, and so on.

This means the paper leaks that are reported from the states, which are a majority of such incidents, unfortunately fall outside the purview of the new act.

The state government examination conducting agencies, like the Bihar Public Service Commission or the Rajasthan Staff Selection Commission are outside the ambit of the law.

"And that is where the government needs to act. It is in the states where most of these cases of paper leaks and unfair means come from," advocate Anubha Shrivastava Sahai tells IndiaToday.In.

"It remains to be seen if the states, who are custodians of the subject of education, ratify the Central Act," she adds.

Only if the states adopt the February Act, can the stringent provisions be extended to the examinations conducted by the state level agencies, which hold the lion's share of the reported cases of unfair means.

The Uttar Pradesh government has made a move in this regard. The Yogi Adityanath-led government will bring a new law to stop paper leaks and rein in 'solver gangs'. There will also be provisions for heavy fines, bulldozer action and even a jail term.

Had the Public Examinations (Prevention of Unfair Means) Act 2024 been implemented earlier, and the enforcement agencies been harsh on the paper-leak industry, the dreams and aspirations of millions of youths might not have been shattered.