PUBLIC EXAMINATIONS (PREVENTION OF UNFAIR MEANS) ACT, 2024
7.
8.
III : Section 112 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023 (As applicable w.e.f. 1-7-2024)
PUBLIC EXAMINATIONS (PREVENTION OF UNFAIR MEANS) RULES, 2024
PUBLIC EXAMINATIONS (PREVENTION OF UNFAIR MEANS) ACT,
2024*
[1 of 2024]
An Act to prevent unfair means in the public examinations and to provide for matters connected therewith or incidental thereto.
BE it enacted by Parliament in the Seventy-fifth Year of the Republic of India as follows:—
CHAPTER I PRELIMINARY
Short title and commencement.
1. (1) This Act may be called the Public Examinations (Prevention of Unfair Means) Act, 2024.
(2)It shall come into force on such date† as the Central Government may, by notification in the Official Gazette, appoint.
SECTION ANALYSIS
1.1 General
The Public Examinations (Prevention of Unfair Means) Act, 2024 (hereinafter referred to as ‘the Public Examinations Act’ or ‘PEA’) received the Assent of the President on 12-2-2024.
Section 2(1)(k) of PEA defines “Public Examination”.
Section 1 relates to Short Title and Commencement of the Act.
Section 1 provides that the PEA shall come into force on such date as the Central Government appoints by Notification in the Official Gazette. The PEA has come into force with effect from 21-6-2024.
*Dated 12-2-2024.
†Notification No. S.O. 2422(E), dated 21-6-2024 - In exercise of the powers conferred by subsection (2) of section 1 of the Public Examinations (Prevention of Unfair Means) Act, 2024 (1 of 2024), the Central Government hereby appoints the 21st day of June, 2024 as the date on which the provisions of the said Act shall come into force.
1.2
Section 1 is silent on “Extent”. This means that the PEA will apply all over India without exclusion for any States or UTs.
Aims and Objects of PEA
According to the Statement of Objects and Reasons of the PEA Bill, the following are the avowed aims and objects of the Legislation:
Malpractices in public examinations lead to delays and cancellation of examinations adversely impacting the prospects of millions of youth. At present, there is no specific substantive law to deal with unfair means adopted or offences committed by various entities involved in the conduct of public examinations by the Central Government and its agencies. Therefore, it is imperative that elements that exploit vulnerabilities of examination system are identified and effectively dealt with by a comprehensive Central legislation. PEA seeks to fill this void. [Para 2 of the Statement of Objects and Reasons]
The objective of the PEA is to bring greater transparency, fairness and credibility to the public examination systems and to reassure the youth that their sincere and genuine efforts will be fairly rewarded and their future is safe. [Para 3 of the Statement of Objects and Reasons]
The PEA is aimed at effectively and legally deterring persons, organised groups or institutions that indulge in various unfair means and adversely impact the public examination systems for monetary or wrongful gains.
The PEA shall serve as a model draft for States to adopt at their discretion. This would aid States in preventing the criminal elements from disrupting conduct of their State level public examinations. [Para 4 of the Statement of Objects and Reasons]
Till such time the states pass a law along the lines of PEA, they can act against paper leak in State Government public exams by invoking section 112 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023 which come into force with effect from 1-7-2024.
Once any state passes a law like PEA, it can act against paper leaks in public exams of the State Government under such law as well as under section 112 of Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023.
Definitions.
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) “communication device” shall have the same meaning assigned to it in clause (ha) of sub-section (1) of section 2 of the Information Technology Act, 2000 (21 of 2000);
(
c) “competent authority” shall mean the Ministry or a Department of the Central Government administratively concerned with the public examination authority;
(
d) “computer network”, “computer resource” and “computer system” shall have the meanings respectively assigned to them in clauses (j), (k) and (l) of sub-section (1) of section 2 of the Information Technology Act, 2000 (21 of 2000);
(
(
(
e) “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;
(
f) “institution” means any agency, organisation, body, association of persons, business entity, company, partnership or single proprietorship firm, by whatever name it may be called, which is other than the public examination authority and the service provider engaged by such authority.
Explanation.—For the purposes of this clause, it is clarified that “company” includes a company as defined in clause (20) of section 2 of the Companies Act, 2013 (18 of 2013); or a limited liability partnership firm as defined in clause (n) of sub-section (1) of section 2 of the Limited Liability Partnership Act, 2008 (7 of 2009);
g) “notification” means a notification published in the Official Gazette and the expression “notify” shall be construed accordingly;
h) “organised 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;
(
i) “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 of such service provider, as the case may be;
(j) “prescribed” means prescribed by rules made under this Act;
(k) “public examination” means any examination conducted by the public examination authority, as specified in the Schedule, or conducted by such other authority as may be notified by the Central Government;
(l) “public examination authority” means an authority as specified by the Central Government by a notification, from time to time for conducting the public examinations;
(
m) “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
(n) “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.
(2) Words and expressions used herein but not defined and defined under any other law for the time being in force, shall have the same meanings as assigned to them in those laws.
