PUBLIC EXAMINATIONS (PREVENTION OF UNFAIR
MEANS) BILL, 2024 - GOVERNANCE
News:
Parliament Clears Public
Examinations (Prevention of Unfair Means) Bill, 2024
What's
in the news?
●
In an attempt to arrest cheating in
government recruitment exams, the Parliament cleared the Public Examinations
(Prevention of Unfair Means) Bill, 2024, which aims to prevent use of “unfair
means” in public examinations in order to bring "greater transparency,
fairness and credibility”.
The
Public Examinations (Prevention of Unfair Means) Bill:
●
It seeks to prevent use of unfair means in
public examinations.
●
Public examinations refer to examinations
conducted by authorities specified under the Schedule to the Bill, or notified
by the central government. These
include:
○
Union
Public Service Commission
○
Staff
Selection Commission
○
Railway
Recruitment Board
○
National
Testing Agency
○
Institute
of Banking Personnel Selection
○
Departments
of the central government and their attached offices
for recruitment.
Salient
Features of the Bill:
1.
Offences in relation to Public Examinations:
●
The Bill defines several offences in relation to public examinations.
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It prohibits
collusion or conspiracy to facilitate indulgence in any unfair means.
●
It specifies unfair means to include:
○
Unauthorised access or leakage of question
paper or answer key.
○
Assisting a candidate during a public
examination.
○
Tampering with computer network or resources.
○
Tampering with documents for shortlisting
or finalising of merit list or rank.
○
Conducting fake examination, issuing fake
admit cards or offer letters to cheat, for monetary gain.
●
It also prohibits
○
Disclosing exam-related confidential
information before time.
○
Unauthorised people from entering exam
centres to create disruptions.
●
Above offences will be punishable with
imprisonment between three and five years, and a fine up to Rs 10 lakh.
2.
Responsibilities of Service Providers:
●
In the event of violation of provisions of
the Bill, service providers must report
to the police and the concerned examination authority.
●
A service
provider is an organisation that provides computer resources or any other
support to a public examination authority.
●
Failure
to report such incidents will be an offence.
●
In case, the service provider themselves
commits an offence, the examination authority must report it to the
police.
●
The Bill prohibits service providers from
shifting the exam centre without permission from the examination
authority.
●
An offence by a service provider will be
punishable with a fine of up to one crore rupees.
●
Proportionate cost of examination will
also be recovered from such a service provider.
●
Further, they will also be barred from
conducting public examinations for four years.
●
If it is established that offences
involving service providers were committed with the consent or connivance of
any Director, senior management, or persons-in-charge of the service providers,
such persons will be held personally liable.
●
They will be punished with imprisonment
between three years and 10 years, and a fine of one crore rupees.
3.
Organised Crimes:
●
The Bill specifies a higher punishment for
organised crimes.
●
An organised crime is defined as an
unlawful act committed by a person or a group of persons to further a shared
interest for wrongful gain in relation to public examinations.
●
Persons committing an organised crime will
be punished with imprisonment between five years and 10 years, and a fine of at
least one crore rupees.
●
If an institution is held guilty of
committing an organised crime, its property will be attached and forfeited, and
a proportionate cost of the examination will also be recovered from it.
4.
Inquiry and investigation:
●
All offences under the Bill will be
cognisable, non-bailable and non-compoundable.
●
No action will count as an offence if it
is proved that the accused had exercised due diligence.
●
An officer not below the rank Deputy
Superintendent or Assistant Commissioner of Police will investigate the
offences under the Act.
●
The central government may transfer the
investigation to any central investigating agency.
5.
Model Draft for States:
●
While the provisions will be binding for
central public examination authorities, it will serve as a model draft for
states.