NEW DELHI: Bihar assembly on Wednesday passed an anti-paper leak bill by voice vote to reinforce the measures against irregularities that were witnessed in crucial examinations.
The much-awaited Bihar Public Examinations (PE) (Prevention of Unfair Means) Bill, 2024, aims to curb malpractices such as the leak of question or answer papers, which have previously led to the cancellation of several examinations.
The Bill stipulates severe penalties for those involved in such malpractices, including a prison term of three to five years and a fine of Rs 10 lakh.Also, if a service provider — whether a govt entity or a private agency — engages in malpractice, it will face a fine of Rs 1 crore and a four-year termination of its services.
A portion of the total cost of conducting the examination will also be recovered from the offending service provider.
Public examinations in Bihar are administered by bodies such as the Bihar Public Service Commission, Staff Selection Commission and Bihar School Examination Board, collectively known as Public Examinations Authorities (PEA). The entities engaged in conducting these exams are referred to as service providers.
The Nitish Kumar-led Bihar government passed the bill on the heels of a massive controversy that erupted after the paper leak scam linked to the NEET-UG came to the fore.
The economic offences unit (EOU) of Bihar Police, which is probing the NEET-UG 2024 paper leak, has found medical aspirants paid huge sums ranging from Rs 30 lakh to Rs 50 lakh each to “brokers” involved in the racket, to get access to question papers ahead of the examination on May 5.
EOU, which took over the probe from Patna Police on Friday, has seized several documents, including bank cheques and roll code of candidates, from the flats of the accused.
The accused, who were running an education consultancy firm that promised to help examinees in competitive exams, were arrested on May 5.
The much-awaited Bihar Public Examinations (PE) (Prevention of Unfair Means) Bill, 2024, aims to curb malpractices such as the leak of question or answer papers, which have previously led to the cancellation of several examinations.
The Bill stipulates severe penalties for those involved in such malpractices, including a prison term of three to five years and a fine of Rs 10 lakh.Also, if a service provider — whether a govt entity or a private agency — engages in malpractice, it will face a fine of Rs 1 crore and a four-year termination of its services.
A portion of the total cost of conducting the examination will also be recovered from the offending service provider.
Public examinations in Bihar are administered by bodies such as the Bihar Public Service Commission, Staff Selection Commission and Bihar School Examination Board, collectively known as Public Examinations Authorities (PEA). The entities engaged in conducting these exams are referred to as service providers.
The Nitish Kumar-led Bihar government passed the bill on the heels of a massive controversy that erupted after the paper leak scam linked to the NEET-UG came to the fore.
The economic offences unit (EOU) of Bihar Police, which is probing the NEET-UG 2024 paper leak, has found medical aspirants paid huge sums ranging from Rs 30 lakh to Rs 50 lakh each to “brokers” involved in the racket, to get access to question papers ahead of the examination on May 5.
EOU, which took over the probe from Patna Police on Friday, has seized several documents, including bank cheques and roll code of candidates, from the flats of the accused.
The accused, who were running an education consultancy firm that promised to help examinees in competitive exams, were arrested on May 5.