look news india
Amidst the controversy over NEET and UGC-NET examinations, the anti-paper leak law has come into force in the country. The central government issued a notification in this regard at midnight. Under this law, leaking the paper or tampering with the answer sheet will result in a minimum jail term of 3 years. This can be extended to 5 years with a fine of up to Rs 10 lakh. At the same time, if a government official is found involved in exam related irregularities, he will be sentenced to a minimum of 3 years. This can be extended to 10 years. Apart from this, there can also be a fine of Rs 1 crore.
Under the Anti Paper Leak Act, if the examination center is found involved in any malpractice, then the center will be suspended for 4 years, that is, the center will not have the right to conduct any government paper for the next 4 years.
The anti-paper leak bill was passed in the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha in February this year. This law called the Public Examination Act 2024 was approved by President Draupadi Murmu. All computer-based examinations conducted by the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC), Staff Selection Commission SSC, Railways, banking recruitment exams and National Testing Agency (NTA) will come under the purview of this act.
The decision to bring this law is being considered a big step amid the irregularities happening in examinations like NEET and UGC-NET. Before this law, the government and investigating agencies did not have any separate law to deal with crimes related to malpractice in examinations.