With an aim to curb paper leaks in government recruitment examinations, the Gujarat Assembly has unanimously passed a bill that provides for jail term of up to 10 years for such malpractices.
As per the provisions of the bill, the accused will also have to pay a fine of not less than Rs 10 lakh, which may extend to Rs 1 crore.
After a heated debate, the Gujarat Public Examinations (Prevention of Unfair Means) Bill, 2023, introduced by Minister of State for Home Harsh Shanghvi, was passed on Thursday as members of the opposition Congress and Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) gave their assent. .
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The Bill aims to curb “unfair means”, which include leaking or attempting to leak a question paper, procuring a question paper in an unauthorized manner and solving such a paper in an unauthorized manner.
Unfair means also include the act of assisting the examinee during the examination for monetary gain.
Any examinee (candidate appearing in the examination) indulging in unfair means shall be punished with imprisonment of either description for a term which may extend to three years, and shall also be liable to fine of not less than one lakh rupees.
If any person obstructs or threatens any member of the inspecting party or any person appointed by the examining authority in the performance of his duty, he shall be punished with imprisonment of either description for a term which may extend to three years, and with fine which shall not be less than one lakh rupees.
If any person including the examinee indulges in unfair means or contravenes any of the provisions of the Act, he shall be punished with imprisonment of five years which may extend to 10 years.
In addition, the accused “shall also be liable to fine which shall not be less than Rs 10 lakh, which may extend to Rs 1 crore”.
If it falls under the category of “organised crime” then the crime will become more serious.
The bill states, “Whoever in connivance with the examination authority in organized crime, by unfair means, shall be punished with imprisonment of seven years, which may extend to 10 years, and with fine of one crore rupees.” Is.”
A court can also order attachment of properties of convicted persons involved in “organized crime”. A person found guilty under this act shall be debarred from any public examination for two years.
If any person associated with any institution is found guilty under this Act, such professional body or institution shall be “liable to pay all costs and expenses relating to the public examination and shall be banned forever”.
The Bill states that any offense committed under the Act shall be investigated by a police officer not below the rank of Inspector of Police, but shall be investigated by a Deputy Superintendent of Police.
The bill was introduced a few days after the question paper of the Panchayat Junior Clerk exam was leaked. This exam was postponed on 29 January.
Congress Legislature Party leader Amit Chavda said during the debate that question papers of 13 recruitment examinations have been leaked in the state since 2014.
“To set an example and instil fear among the guilty, this Act should be made applicable with retrospective effect from 2014,” he added.
He also suggested that the Gujarat government should use its own printing press instead of outsourcing the printing of question papers.
AAP leader Chaitra Vasava said the state government should ensure that the main conspirators do not escape.
Another AAP MLA Umesh Makwana suggested that all cases registered under the Act should be investigated by an IPS officer and tried in fast-track courts.
He also agreed to the Congress demand that the question papers should be printed in government-run presses.
Senior Congress MLA Arjun Modhwadia pointed out that although the ‘objects and reasons’ of the bill say it deals with paper leaks of ‘recruitment examinations’, the bill also covers school board exams and university exams, which means that school and College students can also be arrested under this act.
Minister Sanghvi clarified that candidates for school board and university exams will not come under the purview of the bill, only officials or others promoting unfair practices will be covered.
He said bringing such a stringent bill was the need of the hour as the Indian Penal Code (IPC) was not sufficient to punish the guilty. We have prepared this bill after studying similar bills brought by other states like Uttar Pradesh.
He refused to accept the opposition’s demands for retrospective implementation and printing of question papers in state-owned presses on various technical grounds.
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(This story has not been edited by News18 staff and is published from a syndicated news agency feed)