The Lok Sabha on Wednesday passed the Public Examinations (Prevention of Unfair Means) Amendment Bill, 2026 by voice vote, clearing the path towards a law that steeply raises penalties for exam paper leaks in the wake of the NEET-UG controversy that forced Dharmendra Pradhan’s resignation as education minister last week.
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The bill now goes to the Rajya Sabha, as it will need to clear the Upper House before going to President Droupadi Murmu for assent. This will amend the original 2024 law.
Piloting the bill, Union minister of state Jitendra Singh said the amendment showed the government was open to “learning from experience”.
The debate itself turned heated on Tuesday, when parliamentary affairs minister Kiren Rijiju objected to remarks by Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi targeting Union home minister Amit Shah over police action at the Cockroach Janta Party march in Delhi on July 20. This prompted LS speaker Om Birla to ask Gandhi to confine himself to the bill; the House was adjourned multiple times over the exchange.
PM Narendra Modi had originally announced the amendment bill as major step towards exam reforms, but it failed to assuage the Cockroach Janta Party and the Congress as they separately pressed for the minister’s resignation that came day after that.
The amendments strengthen the Public Examinations (Prevention of Unfair Means) Act of 2024, which had already made every offence under it cognisable, non-bailable and non-compoundable, while keeping candidates themselves outside its scope. The basics do not change. Timelines and punishments become stricter.
The bill’s Objects and Reasons sections explain the changes as necessary “to facilitate speedy trial and ensure time-bound investigations”.
