Maharashtra names 203 exam-fraud cases for new fast-track courts, oldest from 2002

The Bombay High Court has put Maharashtra's new fast-track courts for examination offences into motion. Acting Chief Justice Ravindra Ghuge on Friday notified 21 additional special courts, taking the total to 23, and the state government has identified 203 cases that will move directly onto their dockets — the oldest dating back to 2002.

The scope is wider than the paper-leak cases that triggered the national furore. According to The Indian Express, the list includes alleged cheating in Higher Secondary Certificate examinations, irregularities in recruitment tests for police and civic posts, and cases tied to the Maharashtra Public Service Commission (MPSC). The cases were filed under the 1982 Maharashtra Prevention of Malpractices Act, the Centre's 2024 Public Examinations (Prevention of Unfair Means) Act, and relevant sections of the IPC, Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, and the IT Act.

What we can verify

• Acting Chief Justice Ghuge designated 21 additional special courts on August 1, following two earlier notifications for Aurangabad and Nagpur. — The Indian Express
• The state has identified 203 cases for these courts. They span both the 1982 state law and the 2024 central Act, covering board exams, university exams, and government recruitment tests. — The Indian Express; Free Press Journal
• The oldest case, from 2002, involves alleged irregularities in MPSC examinations for posts including Police Sub-Inspector. It is pending before a Mumbai court. — The Indian Express
• District-wise, Aurangabad leads with 46 identified cases, followed by Thane (22), Pune (18), Jalgaon (15), Mumbai (12), Nagpur (11) and Parbhani (11). — The Indian Express
• Presiding officers have been directed to endeavour to complete trials within three months of chargesheet filing. In most cases, chargesheets are already filed. — The Indian Express
• The Nagpur court has already begun hearing matters; in one HSC paper-leak case it ordered expedited proceedings. — The Indian Express
• The push originates from Prime Minister Modi's announcement last week that special courts would be set up after the NEET paper-leak row and the student protests it sparked. The Union Law Ministry then directed states to operationalise courts under the 2024 Act. — The Indian Express

What remains unverified

• Whether other states have published comparable case-identification lists or court-designations; the Centre's directive was national but implementation details remain state-specific.
• The actual trial-completion rate within the three-month target — this is a new directive with no prior benchmark.
• The exact breakdown of how many of the 203 cases fall strictly under the central 2024 Act versus the 1982 state law versus IPC/BNS/IT Act provisions.

Context

The Cockroach Janta Party protests at Jantar Mantar in July, which forced the resignation of Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan, centred on the NEET paper leak. The Prime Minister's subsequent announcement of fast-track courts was a direct political response to that pressure. Maharashtra's move — the first state to publicly detail its case list and court map — shows the first layer of that promise converting into judicial infrastructure. The inclusion of a 22-year-old MPSC corruption case signals an intent to treat the backlog of examination malpractice as a single continuum, not just the NEET episode.