A bill which seeks to deal sternly with malpractices and irregularities in competitive examinations, with provisions for a maximum jail term of 10 years and a fine up to Rs 1 crore was introduced in the Lok Sabha on Monday. The Public Examinations (Prevention of Unfair Means) Bill, 2024 was introduced by Union minister Jitendra Singh. Students will not be a target of the proposed law. It will act against organised gangs, mafia elements and those indulging in malpractices and will not even spare government officials found in collusion with them. The move comes against the backdrop of cancellation of a series of competitive tests such as the teacher recruitment exam in Rajasthan, Common Eligibility Test (CET) for Group-D posts in Haryana, recruitment exam for junior clerks in Gujarat and constable recruitment examination in Bihar following question paper leaks. The bill also proposes a high-level national technical committee on public examinations that will make recommendations to ma
A CBI special court in Hyderabad has sentenced the then-Railway Recruitment Board - Mumbai chairman Satendra Mohan Sharma and nine others to five years' rigorous imprisonment in connection with the leak of exam papers for the recruitment of 1,936 assistant station masters and assistant loco pilots in 2010, officials said on Tuesday. Among those sentenced in the case by the Principal Special Judge for CBI Cases - Hyderabad is former Assan-Mangalore Rail Development Corporation CEO AK Jagannadham. The court has also slapped a fine of Rs 1.75 lakh on Sharma and Rs 1.31 lakh on Jagannadham, the officials said. The total fines slapped on all 10 accused amounts Rs 7.87 lakh. The agency on June 15, 2010, booked the accused in the leak of examination papers for the recruitment of 1,936 assistant loco pilots and assistant station masters that was scheduled to be conducted by the Railway Recruitment Board on June 6 of that year. It was alleged that Sharma and Jagannadham had entered into a .
The home department of Rajasthan has directed the state's director general of police to form a Special Investigation Team (SIT) to probe the recent recruitment exam paper leak cases, an official statement said on Saturday. The directions were issued on the orders of Chief Minister Bhajan Lal Sharma. At a meeting held on Friday, Sharma ordered the formation of the SIT, which will be headed by an ADG-rank official, it said. The SIT will meticulously examine each paper leak case which will contribute to the prevention of such incidents in the future, the statement added. At the same time, the government will constitute an Anti-Gangster Task Force under an ADG-rank official, it said. The task force will work to combat organised crime in the state and play a crucial role in enforcing stringent measures against criminals, the statement added.
The Delhi High Court has refused to quash charges framed against a former Punjab and Haryana High Court official in a case relating to the alleged leak of the 2017 Haryana Civil Services (judicial) preliminary examination paper. The HC said that in cases where digital or electronic evidence is available, the prosecution's case cannot be thrown at the initial stage. The record indicated that petitioner-accused Dr Balwinder Kumar Sharma, who was then the registrar (recruitment) of the Punjab and Haryana High Court, was in possession of the question paper immediately before the alleged leakage. "The case is of a very sensitive nature and the evidence which is required to be led for the purpose of proving the case is either digital or documentary in nature," Justice Dinesh Kumar Sharma said. The high court further said the jurisdiction of the court while entertaining the revision petition is also very limited, and it can interfere in the challenged order only if there is any serious ..
Leaders from the Opposition parties targeted the Maharashtra government over the issues of unemployment and exam paper leaks on Friday, the sixth day of the winter session of the state assembly. Legislators from the Maha Vikas Aghadi, constituting the Shiv Sena (UBT), Nationalist Congress Party's Sharad Pawar faction and Congress, gathered on the steps of the Vidhan Bhavan and raised slogans against the government. Leader of Opposition in the legislative council Ambadas Danve, legislators Satej Patil and Sachin Ahir, among others, brought utensils and pakoras as part of the protest. Speaking to reporters, Danve claimed that the number of unemployed youth has increased in the state and while the government keeps advertising about jobs, it does not fill vacancies. "Unemployment and exam paper leaks are Prime Minister Narendra Modi's guarantees," he said.
Allegation regarding the 'red diary' resurfaced. The diary allegedly contains financial transactions of the Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot
The Rashtriya Loktantrik Party (RLP) leader has accused both BJP and Congress for allowing recruitment scam to continue in Rajasthan
The Rajasthan government will bring a Bill in the next assembly session to increase the punishment for those involved in recruitment exam paper leaks from the current 10 years to life imprisonment, Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot said on Tuesday. In March 2022, the assembly passed a Bill providing for imprisonment of up to 10 years and a fine of Rs 10 crore for offences such as government exam paper leaks and cheating in such recruitment tests. This came a month after the REET level-two examination held in September 2021 was cancelled due to a paper leak. "It has been decided to bring a Bill in the upcoming assembly session to make life imprisonment the maximum punishment under the law against paper leaks," Gehlot said in a tweet in Hindi on Tuesday. "In order to bring more transparency in competitive examinations in the state, the chief secretary has been directed to prepare a better process after discussing with the Rajasthan Public Service Commission (RPSC), Department of Personnel .
Employees of a Lucknow located printing press and middlemen allegedly leaked question papers for the exams conducted by the Uttarakhand Subordinate Service Selection Commission and sold them to a number of aspirants at a rate of about Rs 10-15 lakh per paper, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) said on Wednesday. The federal agency said it raided multiple locations in the state on Tuesday as part of a money laundering investigation into this alleged exam paper leaks case. The agency added that it seized and froze cash and bank deposits worth about Rs 1.14 crore along with various "incriminating" documents and property papers after these raids, it said in a statement. The ED alleged that a company named RMS Techno Solutions (India) Pvt. Ltd, Lucknow was the press where papers of the examinations conducted by UKSSSC were being printed and it had played a "major role in the leak". "The examination papers were sold to a number of candidates at an approximate cost of Rs 10-15 lakh per pape
: The Special Investigation Team (SIT) of Hyderabad Police probing the leak of question papers of the State Public Service Commission on Friday filed a charge sheet in the case. A press release from the city police said as of now 49 accused individuals have been arrested in connection with the case, while one person, currently residing in New Zealand, is still at large. The total money transacted in the buying and selling of various TSPSC question papers is Rs 1.63 crore, it said. "All the material evidences seized during the arrest of the accused persons were sent to the Central Forensic Science Laboratory, Ramanthapur, and experts opinion obtained. Legal opinion is obtained and the preliminary charge sheet has been filed today in the Hon'ble jurisdictional Court," the release said. The TSPSC on March 15 cancelled the Assistant Engineers (AE) exam held on March 5, following allegations that the question paper had been leaked. Amid massive protests by the Congress, BJP and other .
The Enforcement Directorate probing the REET paper leak case in Rajasthan have sealed the residences and offices of accused RPSC member Babulal Katara, Suresh Dhaka and Suresh Kumar Vishnoi
In a new twist to TSPSC exam paper leak case, SIT has found that one of the accused allegedly used ChatGPT and electronic devices to share answers with the candidates
Police booked a case against Sharmila under IPC sections 505 (2) (statements creating or promoting enmity, hatred or ill-will between classes) and 504 (intentional insult with intent to breach peace)
With two tests of the state board-conducted Class 10 exams cancelled within a week following leak of question papers, Assam Education Minister Ranoj Pegu on Friday asserted that the entire examination system will be analysed and rectified. Admitting that there are lapses in the system, he said the Board of Secondary Education, Assam (SEBA) has to figure out where the problems are and take corrective measures. We have to rectify it together, Pegu told reporters here. Days after the general science question paper leak of the Class 10 state board exam, the Assamese paper also got leaked, Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma had said on Thursday evening. All the Modern Indian Language (MIL) subject papers, including Alternative English, which were to be held tomorrow, have been cancelled as a precautionary step, as one of the accused revealed about leaking the Assamese question paper. The new dates will be announced by SEBA today, Pegu said. In Karbi Anglong, West Karbi Anglong and Dima
Investigations have revealed that the General Science question paper of class 10 state board examination in Assam were sold for up to Rs 3,000 on WhatsApp, Director-General of Police Gyanendra Pratap Singh said on Thursday. Speaking to reporters, Singh said WhatsApp's assistance was being sought to identify the origin of the leak of the question paper. "The investigation has revealed that the question paper of the General Science examination were sold for anything between Rs 100 and Rs 3,000. We have found that somewhere it was sold for Rs 100, somewhere for Rs 200-300, and it went up to Rs 3,000. Assistance is being sought from WhatsApp to identify the origin of the leak," he said. "I am happy with the investigation and the progress we made over the last three days. Hopefully, we will crack this case soon. We will send some more packets of the question paper from upper Assam to the CID headquarters for the purpose of the investigation," he added. The General Science question paper
Several students from various parts of Assam were on Wednesday brought to the CID headquarters here for questioning in connection with its investigation into the alleged leak of a question paper of the class 10 state board exam, an officer said. The number of arrests in the case remains at three, he said. "We have detained students, teachers and others across Assam. They have been brought to Guwahati for further questioning," the CID officer said. He, however, refused to share any further details. Director General of Police (DGP) GP Singh on Wednesday morning reached Dibrugarh from where around six students have been detained so far. Education Minister Ranoj Pegu, talking to reporters outside the assembly here, said that the CID is investigating to get to the root of the paper leak. "Some students and others have been arrested or detained so far. But we have to be patient and need to wait for the CID probe to be over to know from where the paper leak originated," Pegu said. The
Gujarat Governor Acharya Devvrat has given his assent to a Bill brought by the state's BJP government in the ongoing Budget session to curb recruitment exam paper leaks which prescribes jail up to 10 years to those involved in such malpractices and may face fines of up to Rs 1 crore. The Gujarat Public Examination (Prevention of Unfair Means) Bill, 2023 was unanimously passed in the House on February 24, and Governor Devvrat has given his assent, Minister of State for Home Harsh Sanghavi said on Monday. As per provisions of the Bill, those involved in malpractices like exam paper leaks could be jailed for up to 10 years and may face fines of up to Rs 1 crore. The legislation is meant to punish those who either leak a question paper of a recruitment exam, procure a question paper in an unauthorised manner or solve such a paper illegally. The Bill says any candidate indulging in such activities will be punished with imprisonment up to three years, and shall also be liable for a fine
The agitating organisations were not satisfied with the progress of the CBI probe and subsequent actions
With the objective of curbing paper leaks in government recruitment exams, the Gujarat Legislative Assembly has unanimously passed a Bill that provides for up to 10 years in prison for such malpractices. As per the provisions of the bill, the accused shall also be liable for fine which shall not be less than Rs 10 lakh, which may extend to Rs 1 crore. Following a heated debate, the Gujarat Public Examination (Prevention of Unfair Means) Bill, 2023, tabled by Minister of State for Home Harsh Sanghavi, was passed on Thursday as opposition Congress and Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) members gave their nod. The bill is aimed at curbing "unfair means" which include to leak or attempt to leak a question paper, procure a question paper in an unauthorised manner and to solve such a paper in an unauthorised manner. Unfair means also include an act of assisting an examinee during examination for monetary gains. Any examinee (candidate appearing for an exam) indulging in unfair means shall be punishe
Gehlot said, "Paper leaks were reported from other states as well. This is a very serious issue and the state government is very serious about it"