Mumbai: The Maharashtra government on Friday introduced a bill against unfair practices in examinations. All offences registered under the proposed act will be cognizable, non-bailable and non-compoundable. The bill introduced in the wake of paper leak allegations provides for minimum three years of jail if an offence is proven.

The Bill titled ‘Maharashtra Competitive Examination Act, 2024’  aims to prevent unfair means in the competitive examinations, bring greater transparency, fairness and credibility and reassure the youth that their sincere and genuine efforts will be fairly rewarded and their future is safe. Minister Shambhuraj Desai tabled it in the legislative assembly.

According to the bill, those found indulging in unfair means and offences in the conduct of competitive examinations shall be punished with imprisonment for a term not less than three years, which may be extended to five years and with a fine of up to Rs 10 lakh. In case of default of payment of fine, an additional punishment of imprisonment shall be imposed as per provisions of Bharaitya Nyaya Sanhita 2023.

The service provider, who is engaged by the competitive examination authorities for the conduct of the exam, will be liable to be punished with a fine up to Rs one crore and the proportionate cost of examination shall be recovered from such provider. It shall also be barred from being assigned with any such responsibility of conducting any competitive exam for a period of four years, the bill says.

The punitive provisions of the Bill will cover direct or indirect involvement of a candidate.

“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 competative examinations. Therefore, it is imperative that the elements that exploit vulnerabilities of examination system are identified and effectively dealt with by a comprehensive state legislation,” the government said in the objectives and reasons of the bill.

The salient features of the bill include making provisions to avoid disruption in the conduct of competitive exams, mandates it to specify duties of paper setters, to empower the officers not below the rank of deputy superintendent of police or assistant commissioner of police to investigate the offence.