More Stories

Informist, Saturday, Jul. 25, 2026

 

NEW DELHI – The government plans to strengthen the law to tackle cheating and the use of unfair means in competitive examinations with The Public Examinations (Prevention of Unfair Means) (Amendment) Bill, 2026, a draft of which was cleared by the Union Cabinet Friday. The Bill seeks to introduce mandatory two-month investigation deadlines, day-to-day trials, to be completed in three months, by special fast-track courts, and steeper financial penalties of up to INR 100 million and a jail term of up to 10 years.

 

The Bill seeks to amend the 2024 legislation brought in to handle test paper leaks. The new law will give the central government the power to form a dedicated special task force to take exclusive charge of investigations into such cases. It will introduce Sections 12A and 12B, establishing that trial courts cannot grant adjournments beyond the following day without citing explicit reasons in writing.

 

As per the Bill, state governments and Union territory administrations will designate sessions courts as fast-track courts to conduct trials on a continuous, day-to-day basis. Appeals against decisions of these special courts can only go to a high court, where they will be heard by a two-judge division bench. The appeals must also be resolved within a three-month timeframe.

 

"The objective of the Act is to bring greater transparency, fairness, and credibility, and to inspire confidence in the public examination system," notes the draft signed by Union Minister of State in the Prime Minister's Office Jitendra Singh. The draft Bill says that in recent years, there have been "some incidents of question paper leakages and malpractices in examinations" conducted by public examination authorities, which tend to affect the transparency and fairness of the public examination system. "The amendments ensure time-bound investigations, speedy trials, and enhanced deterrence against organised crime groups and institutions."

 

As soon as the Bill, likely to be introduced in the Lok Sabha Monday, is enacted, all cases under the 2024 Act that are currently going on will be immediately transferred to newly designated special fast-track courts and will have to be concluded within three months of the transfer.  End

 

Reported by Asim Khan

Edited by Rajeev Pai

 

For users of real-time market data terminals, Informist news is available exclusively on the NSE Cogencis WorkStation.

 

Cogencis news is now Informist news. This follows the acquisition of Cogencis Information Services Ltd. by NSE Data & Analytics Ltd., a 100% subsidiary of the National Stock Exchange of India Ltd. As a part of the transaction, the news department of Cogencis has been sold to Informist Media Pvt. Ltd.

 

Informist Media Tel +91 (11) 4220-1000

Send comments to feedback@informistmedia.com

 

© Informist Media Pvt. Ltd. 2026. All rights reserved.