4 min readJaipurJul 19, 2023 07:06 AM IST
First published on: Jul 19, 2023 at 04:05 AM IST
The Rajasthan Assembly on Tuesday tabled a Bill to further “deter” the paper leak “mafia” by amending punishment up to life imprisonment for those involved in leaking question papers.
The Rajasthan Public Examination (Measures for Prevention of Unfair Means in Recruitment) (Amendment) Bill, 2023, which was tabled in the House, proposes to increase punishment for the crime from the earlier five to 10 years to jail for 10 years and up to life imprisonment.
Under “adequate and special” conditions, the court may impose a sentence of less than 10 years, the Bill states.
Last year, the state government had passed the Rajasthan Public Examination (Measures for Prevention of Unfair Means in Recruitment) Act, which had a provision of imprisonment between five and 10 years, and a penalty between Rs 10 lakh and Rs 10 crore, for any person found violating the law. These could even be the examinee or someone entrusted or authorised with the conduct of public examination, the law stated.
In the Statement of Objects and Reasons of the 2023 amendment Bill, the government has noted, “It is evident from recent incidents that offences relating to use of unfair means are perpetrated by organised mafias and the existing provisions of punishment in the aforesaid [2022] Act does not have a deterrent effect on them. Since a fair and reasonable recruitment process is adversely affected by such crimes, more stringent punishment for them is the need of the hour.”
While the state government had tabled, and subsequently passed, the Bill last year after police probe found that question papers of Rajasthan Eligibility Examination for Teachers (REET) examination was leaked before the exams, the present amendment was preceded by protests by Congress leader Sachin Pilot over the state government’s alleged soft stance on cases of corruption.
Opposition BJP, too, has constantly raised the issue of question paper leaks.
In April, Pilot sat on a symbolic hunger strike in Jaipur, followed by a five-day yatra from Ajmer to Jaipur in May. He had alleged that progress in alleged corruption cases against the previous Vasundhara Raje government had been stalled and had demanded disbanding of Rajasthan Public Service Commission (RPSC), which has seen instances of question papers being leaked in several exams, its reconstitution through a new law, and compensation for students who have suffered due to such paper leaks.
While initially he seemed unyielding, Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot is seen as having softened his stand after the party high command stepped in.
“The Chief Secretary has been directed to hold discussions with RPSC, DOP [Department of Personnel], RSSB [Rajasthan Staff Selection Board] and other stakeholders and prepare a better procedure, after the discussions, to bring more transparency in competitive examinations in the state. It has been decided to bring a Bill in the upcoming Assembly session to make provision of maximum punishment life imprisonment in the law made against paper leak,” Gehlot had said on July 4.
The announcement came two days before a meeting of Rajasthan Congress leaders with the party leadership in Delhi on July 6.
Asked about Pilot’s issues, Congress general secretary (organisation) K C Venugopal had told the media after the meeting that good criteria were being fixed for RPSC. “A new legislation is coming. Question paper leakage is a big issue not only in Rajasthan but everywhere.… Those guilty of such paper leaks will face tough punishment. The new legislation is going to come up in the next Assembly session.”
After the meeting, Pilot had said, “I am happy that the AICC has taken cognizance and prepared a blueprint to take action on the issues.”
Chief Minister Hemant Soren cited recent incidents of question paper leaks that had “badly affected society and the consciousness of students” preparing for recruitment exams as the impetus for this Bill. However, Opposition leaders have claimed that cheating is not as common in Jharkhand as in other states.
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