The Centre has notified the Public Examinations (Prevention of Unfair Means) Act, 2024, aiming to curb malpractices and irregularities in competitive examinations. This comes amid protests over alleged NEET and UGC-NET paper leaks. Effective from June 21, the law, passed on February 9, 2024, imposes stringent penalties, including three to five years of imprisonment for cheating, and five to ten years for organized cheating crimes with a minimum fine of Rs 1 crore.
The Act also allows the government to attach and forfeit the property of institutions involved in paper leak crimes and recover the examination’s cost from them. It covers examinations by UPSC, SSC, Railways, banking recruitment exams, and all NTA-conducted computer-based exams. This notification arrives amidst widespread complaints about the NEET-UG 2024 exam and the recent cancellation of the UGC-NET exam due to paper leaks. The Act, however, does not apply retroactively to events before June 21.
Meanwhile, in response to NEET-UG 2024 irregularities, a retest window will open for 1,563 students, with new centers and admit cards issued. Additionally, the Joint CSIR-UGC-NET exam scheduled for June 25-27 has been postponed due to logistical issues.