EXAMINATION SECURITY AND ACCOUNTABILITY

(PREVENTION OF UNFAIR MEANS) BILL, 2024

A
BILL
BY RAHUL GANDHI
LEADER OF OPPOSITION
LOK SABHA
to prevent unfair means in the public examinations and to provide for matters connected
therewith or incidental thereto.

CHAPTER I
PRELIMINARY
Short Title, Extent and Commencement

1. (1) This Act may be called the Examination Security and Accountability
(Prevention of Unfair Means) Act, 2024
(2) It shall extend to whole of India.
(3) It shall come into force on such date as the Central Government may, by
notification in the Official Gazette, appoint.

Definition Clause
2. (1) In this Act, unless the context otherwise requires, ––

(a) “candidate” means a person who has been granted permission by the
public examination authority to appear in public examination and includes a
person authorised to act as a scribe on his behalf in the public examination;

(b) “competent authority” shall mean the Ministry or a Department of

the Central Government administratively concerned with the public
examination authority;

(c) “conduct of public examination” shall include all the procedures,

processes and activities, as may be prescribed, for being adopted for the
conduct of public examination;

(d) “institution” means any agency, organisation, body, association of

persons, business entity, company, partnership or single proprietorship firm;

(e) “notification” means a notification published in the Official

Gazette and the expression “notify” shall be construed accordingly;

(f) “organized crime” means an unlawful activity committed by a

person or a group of persons indulging in unfair means in collusion and
 conspiracy to pursue or promote a shared interest for wrongful gain in
respect of a public examination;

(g) “person associated with a service provider” means a person who

performs services for or on behalf of such service provider irrespective of
whether such person is an employee or an agent or a subsidiary, as the case may
be;

(h) “public examination” means any examination conducted by the

public examination authority, as specified in the Schedule I of this bill, or
conducted by
such other authority as may be notified by the Central Government;

(i) “public examination authority” means an authority as specified by

the Central Government by a notification, from time to time for conducting
the public examinations;

(j) “public examination centre” means such premises, which is

selected by the service provider or otherwise selected by the public
examination authority, to be used for conduct of public examination and
which, amongst others, may include any school, computer centre,
institution, any building or part thereof and the same shall include the entire
periphery and land appurtenant thereto which may be used for security and
other related reasons for conduct of the public examinations; and

(k) “service provider” means any agency, organisation, body,

association of persons, business entity, company, partnership or single
proprietorship firm, including its associates, sub-contractors and provider of
support of any computer resource or any material, by whatever name it may
be called, which is engaged by the public examination authority for conduct
of public examination.

CHAPTER II
UNFAIR MEANS AND OFFENCES
3. The unfair means relating to the conduct of a public examination shall
include any act or omission done or caused to be done by any person or group of
persons or institutions, and include but not be restricted to, any of the following
acts for monetary or wrongful gain—

(i) leakage of question paper or answer key or part thereof;

(ii) participating in collusion with others to effect leakage of question paper or answer
key;
(iii) accessing or taking possession of question paper or an Optical Mark Recognition
response sheet without authority;
(iv) providing solution to one or more questions by any unauthorized person during
public examination;
(v) directly or indirectly assisting the candidate in any manner
unauthorisedly in the public examination;
(vi) tampering with answer sheets including Optical Mark
Recognition response sheets;
(vii) altering the assessment except to correct a bona fide error
without any authority;
(viii) willful violation of norms or standards set up by the Central
Government for conduct of a public examination on its own or through its
agency;
(ix) tampering with any document necessary for short-listing of
candidates or finalising the merit or rank of a candidate in a public
examination;
(x) deliberate violation of security measures to facilitate unfair means
in conduct of a public examination;
(xi) manipulation in seating arrangements, allocation of dates and
shifts for the candidates to facilitate adopting unfair means in examinations;
(xii) threatening the life, liberty or wrongfully restraining persons
associated with the public examination authority or the service provider or
any authorised agency of the Government; or obstructing the conduct of a
public examination;
(xiii) creation of fake website to cheat or for monetary gain; and
(xiv) conduct of fake examination, issuance of fake admit cards or offer
letters to cheat or for monetary gain.

4. No person or group of persons or institutions shall collude or conspire to

facilitate indulgence in any such unfair means.

5. (1) No person, who is not entrusted or engaged with the work pertaining
to the public examination or conduct of public examination or who is not a
candidate, shall enter the premises of the examination centre, with intent to disrupt
the conduct of the public examination.
(2) No person authorised, engaged or entrusted with the duties to conduct
public examination shall, before the time fixed for opening and distribution of
question papers––
(a) open, leak or possess or access or solve or seek assistance to solve
such question paper or any portion or a copy thereof in unauthorised manner for
monetary or wrongful gain;
(b) give any confidential information or promise to give such confidential
information to any person, where such confidential information is related to or
in reference to such question paper for monetary or wrongful gain.

(3) No person, who is entrusted or engaged with any work pertaining to

public examination shall, except where he is authorised in furtherance of his
duties so to do, reveal or cause to be revealed or make known to any other person
any information or part thereof which has come to his knowledge for any undue
advantage or wrongful gain.

6. If any person or group of persons or institution commits any unfair means

or offence under sections 3, 4 and section 5, the service provider shall forthwith
report the offence to the concerned police authorities and also inform the public
examination authority:
Provided that if the service provider resorts to unfair means and commits
the offence or is involved in facilitating an offence, the public examination
authority shall report the same to the concerned police authorities.

7. It shall be an offence for the service provider or any person associated

with the service provider to cause any premises, other than the examination Centre,
authorized by the public examination authority, to be alternatively used for the
purpose of holding public examination, without the written approval of the public
examination authority.

8. (1) Any person, including the person associated with a service provider,
shall be deemed to have committed an offence if he individually or in collusion
with any other person or group of persons or institutions assists any person or
group of persons or institutions in any manner unauthorizedly in the conduct of
public examination.

(2) Service provider or any person associated with it shall be deemed to have
committed an offence if he fails to report incidence of any unfair means or
commission of any offence.

(3) Where an offence committed by a service provider is, prima facie,

established during investigation to have been committed with the consent or
connivance of any director, manager, secretary or other officer of such service
provider, such person shall also be liable to be proceeded against:
Provided that nothing contained in this sub-section shall render any such
person liable to any punishment under the Act, if he proves, that the offence was
committed without his knowledge and that he exercised all due diligence to
prevent the commission of such offence.

CHAPTER III
PUNISHMENT FOR OFFENCES

9. All offences under this Act, shall be cognizable, non-bailable and

non-compoundable.
10. (1) Any person or persons resorting to unfair means and offences under
this Act, shall be punished with imprisonment for a term not less than three years
but which may extend to five years and with fine up to ten lakh rupees. In case
of default of payment of fine, an additional punishment of imprisonment shall be
imposed.

(2) The service provider shall also be liable to be punished with imposition
of a fine up to one crore rupees and proportionate cost of examination shall also
be recovered from such service provider and he shall also be barred from being
assigned with any responsibility for the conduct of any public examination for a
period of four years.

(3) Where it is established during the investigation that offence under this
Act has been committed with the consent or connivance of any Director, Senior
Management or the persons in-charge of the service provider firm, he shall be liable
for imprisonment for a term not less than three years but which may extend to ten
years and with fine of one crore rupees. In case of default of payment of fine, an
additional punishment of imprisonment shall be imposed.

(4) Nothing contained in this section shall render any such person liable to
any punishment under the Act, if he proves, that the offence was committed without
his knowledge and that he exercised all due diligence to prevent the commission
of such offence.

11. (1) If a person or a group of persons including the examination authority

or service provider or any other institution commits an organised crime, he shall
be punished with imprisonment for a term not less than five years but which may
extend to ten years and with fine which shall not be less than one crore rupees

(2) If an institution is involved in committing an organised crime, its property

shall be subjected to attachment and forfeiture and proportionate cost of
examination shall also be recovered from it.

CHAPTER IV
INQUIRY AND INVESTIGATION

12. (1) An officer not below the rank of Superintendent of Police or Commissioner of
Police shall investigate any offence under this Act.

(2) Notwithstanding anything contained in sub-section (1), the Central

Government shall have the powers to refer the investigation to any Central
Investigating Agency.
 THE SCHEDULE I

ANY EXAMINATION CONDUCTED BY—

1. Union Public Service Commission.
2. Staff Selection Commission.
3. Railway Recruitment Boards.
4. Institute of Banking Personnel Selection.
5. Ministries or Departments of the Central Government and their attached and
subordinate offices for recruitment of staff.
6. National Testing Agency.
7. Such other authority as may be notified by the Central Government.

BILL BY
RAHUL GANDHI,
LEADER OF OPPOSITION,
LOKSABHA