DoPT Notified Public Examinations (Prevention of Unfair Means) Act, 2024; effective from 21st June 2024

The Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT) under the supervision of the Ministry of Personnel, Public Complaints and Pensions (MoPPG&P), Government of India (GoI) in the exercise of the powers conferred under subsection (2) of section 1 of the Public Examinations (Prevention of Unfair Means) Act 2024 (1 of 2024) notified that all provisions of the said law have entered into force as of June 21, 2024.

• The Act aims to prevent unfair means in public examinations and common entrance tests conducted throughout India. All violations will be knowablenon-guaranteable and not combinable under this law.
• The law includes 19 sections through 6 chapters which deal with the different aspects of public examination in order to ensure the transparency and credibility of examinations organised by public authorities.

Background:

I.The law was first introduced by the Union Minister of State (MoS) Dr. Jitendra Singh, (MoPPG&P) as the Public Examinations (Prevention of Unfair Means) Bill, 2024 in the Locomotive Sabha (Lower House of Parliament) the 5th FebJanuary2024 during the interim budget session of Parliament and was passed in the Lok Sabha on February 6, 2024.

ii.Later the bill was passed Rajya Sabha (Upper House of Parliament) the 9th February 2024.

iii.The President of India, Draupadi Murmur gave his assent to Prevention of Unfair Means in Public Examinations Bill, 2024 on February 13, 2024.

Features of the law:

Public review:

Section 2(k) of the law defines “public examination” any examination carried out by the authorities specified in the schedule of the said Act or notified by the Central Government, including:

• The Civil Service Trade Union Commission (UPSC), Staff Selection Commission (SSC)Railway Recruitment Commission (RRB)National Testing Agency (NTA)Banking Personnel Selection Institute (IBPS), and Central Government Departments and their attached offices for recruitment.

Unfair means:

Section 3 of Act describes the minimum 15 actions that amount to the use of unfair means in public examinations “for monetary or illicit gain”. It aims to prohibit collusion or conspiracy to facilitate the use of any unfair means, including:

• Unauthorized access or leakage of questionnaires or answer grids.
• Assisting a candidate during a public examination
• Impairment of computer network or resources.
• Falsification of documents for shortlisting of candidates or finalization of merit list or rank of a candidate in public examination.
• Conducting fake examinations, issuing fake admission cards or offer letters to cheat or obtain monetary gain.

Key points:

The law also prohibits the disclosure of confidential exam-related information before the scheduled time and the entry of unauthorized persons into exam centers to create disruptions.

• All these offences are punishable under Article 10 by imprisonment for a term of at least 3 years and up to 5 yearsand a fine of up to 10 rupees lakh.
• If he fails to pay the fine, further imprisonment will be imposed as per the provisions of the Bharatiya Nyaya (Second) Sanhita, 2023 (BNS2).

Service providers:

Article 2(n) defines “service provider“means any agency, organisation or body engaged by the public review authority for the conduct of the public review.

• It is mandatory on the part of service provider report to the police and the relevant review authority, in case it has discovered that a person or group of persons or an institution is committing an offence or unfair means under the article 3, 4 and 5 of the act. Failure to report such incidents will be considered an offence.
• It prohibits service providers from moving the examination center without the permission of the examination authority.

Penalty:

According to section 10 (2) under Chapter III of the Act, an offence committed by a service provider shall be punishable by a fine up to 1 rupee crore and the proportional cost of the examination will also be recovered from such service provider.

• The service provider will also be prohibited from conducting any public examination for a period of 4 years.

Organized crime:

The Law defines organized crime as an illegal act committed by a person or group of persons to promote a common interest for wrongful gain in connection with public examinations.

• The law provides that people who commit organized crime are subject to imprisonment. between 5 years and 10 yearsand a fine of minimum Rs 1 crore.
• In addition, if an institution is found guilty of committing an organized crime, its assets will be seized and confiscated, and a sum proportional to the cost of the examination will also be demanded.

Other highlights:

I.The law requires an agent not below the rank of assistant superintendent or the Deputy Commissioner of Police will investigate contraventions of the Act.

• According to Article 12 (2) sub-article (1) of the Act, the central government can transfer the investigation to any central investigating agency.

ii.The Act specifies that “applicants” would not be liable for actions falling within their jurisdiction and would continue to be covered by the existing administrative provisions of the Act.

iii.No action will be considered an offense if it is proven that the accused exercised reasonable care.

About the Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions (MoPPG&P):
Minister of the Union– Narendra Modi (Lok Sabha constituency – Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh (UP))
union MoS– Dr Jitendra Singh (Lok Sabha constituency – Udhampur, Jammu and Kashmir (J&K))