10 years behind bars, 1 crore fine: Gujarat Bill seeks to curb leak of recruitment papers

The Bill “…to prevent unfair means and leakage of question paper in public examination and to provide for matters connected therewith or incidental thereto” has identified various types of offences related to unfair means and prescribed penalties.

The minimum punishment under the proposed Bill is three years imprisonment and fine of Rs 1 lakh, while the maximum punishment proposed is 10-year imprisonment and fine not less than Rs 1 crore.

The clause related to maximum punishment under the draft Bill states, “If any person in an organised crime in conspiracy with the examination authority or otherwise indulges or attempts to indulge in unfair means or contravenes or abets to contravene any of the provisions of this Act, he shall be punished with imprisonment for a term which shall not be less than seven years and may extend to ten years and with fine which shall not be less than one crore rupees…”

Under the draft Bill, if an examinee gets convicted of an offence under the provisions of the Act, he shall be debarred from any public examination for a period of two years.

It also provides, “In case of conviction of a person in an organised crime in conspiracy with the examination authority or otherwise indulges or attempts to indulge in unfair means or contravenes or abets to contravene any of the provisions of this Act, the court shall make an order of recovery of any wrongful gains made by such person, by way of attachment and sale of any of the assets/property, moveable, or immoveable, or both, of such person by following the procedure laid down in the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973.”

The draft Bill has also proposed to specify all the offences under the Act to be “cognisable, non-bailable and non-compoundable”. It has also proposed that any offence committed under the Act, “…shall be investigated by a police officer not below the rank of Police Inspector but preferably by Deputy Superintendent of Police”.

The Bill also empowers the state government to remove difficulties arising in implementation of the proposed law within a period of two years from the commencement of the Act.

The state government action of bringing a legislation to check paper leak menace in government recruitment examinations comes after a spate of paper leaks. The Gujarat State Law Commission had also recommended the state government to bring a strict law to check the menace.

The Statement of Objects and Reasons of the draft Bill records, “The 34th Report of the Gujarat State Law Commission has recently examined the issue of paper leak in the recruitment examinations conducted by the recruiting agencies in the state government and have recommended that the issue of paper leak needs to be resolved as expeditiously as possible by enacting a special law against the paper leak and the activities like it may be dealt with firm hands.”

“A fair and reasonable process of selection to posts subject to the norm of equality of opportunity under article 16(1) is a constitutional requirement and it is also a fundamental requirement under article 14 as well. Where the recruitment to public employment stands vitiated as a consequence of a systematic fraud or irregularities, the entire process becomes vitiated,” it adds.

The statement adds, “In matters of recruitment to posts in State Government therefore, the leakage of question papers not only betrays the trust of the general public and adversely affects the credibility of the government but also the State suffers substantial administrative cost when examinations have to be called off.  The recruitment examinations are often compromised due to deceitful means and measures. The essence of the examinations is that the worth of every person is appraised without any assistance from an outside source. Unfortunately, the issue has assumed dimensions of organized crime and involves huge pecuniary advantages to nefarious persons. This is an offence against the society at large. Hence, there is an urgent need to restore public confidence in the sanctity of selection to public posts and the requirement of ensuring fairness to candidates who invest time and resources in attempting to clear through a selection.”