Odisha: BJP Government Moves To Curb Exam Cheating With Tough Bill, 5-Year Jail And Rs 10 Lakh Fine Proposed—All About It

Cheating in exams in Odisha is set to become a cognisable, non-bailable, and non-compoundable offence, with imprisonment of up to five years and fines of up to Rs 10 lakh.

This comes as Odisha's BJP government is planning to table a new anti-cheating bill amid allegations of irregularities in various public examinations.

Called the Odisha Public Examinations (Prevention of Unfair Means) Act, 2024, the draft law is expected to be passed during the upcoming session of the state assembly scheduled to start from 26 November, Indian Express reported.

The bill is aimed at “preventing various forms of unfair means such as impersonation, cheating, and disrupting the examination process, leakage of information related to an exam before the scheduled time, unauthorised entry into exam halls etc. and to maintain the integrity of public exams”, according to state chief secretary Manoj Ahuja.

“Any person or persons resorting to unfair means and offences, shall be punished with imprisonment ranging three to five years and with a fine up to ten lakh rupees,” Ahuja said after the cabinet meeting.

At present, there’s no specific penal provision to cover unfair practices during examinations, with police previously booking offenders under provisions of the Indian Penal Code, and, since July, the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita.

The punishment for cheating under IPC is up to seven years while that under the BNS is three years.

Upon enactment, this law will regulate examinations held by the Odisha Public Service Commission, Odisha Staff Selection Commission, Odisha Subordinate Staff Selection Commission, and the Service Selection Board.

It will further apply to recruitment exams by the Odisha Police Selection Board, the State Selection Board constituted under the Odisha Education Rules of 1992, as well as exams for state government and their subordinate offices.

Additionally, the Odisha Joint Entrance Examination, regulated by the Odisha Professional Educational Institution Act of 2007, will also be subject to this regulation.

Notably, third-party service providers involved in conducting exams could face fines reaching up to Rs 1 crore, and proportionate cost of examination shall also be recovered from them.

“In case of default of payment of fine, an additional punishment of imprisonment shall be imposed, as per the provisions of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023,” one officer was quoted as saying by The Indian Express.

Also Read: RSS Pushes For Phased, State-Wise UCC Implementation With Uttarakhand's Draft As 'Blueprint': Report