Anti-Paper Leak Bill Heads to Lok Sabha After CJP Protest

Parliament reopened Monday with the Centre moving to harden India's anti-paper-leak law — days after the Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) forced Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan's resignation and called off its 36-day Jantar Mantar sit-in.

Union Minister Jitendra Singh is scheduled to introduce the Public Examinations (Prevention of Unfair Means) Amendment Bill, 2026 in the Lok Sabha, then move it for passage the same day, according to the House agenda reported by The Hindu and The Indian Express.

The draft was cleared by the Union Cabinet on Friday and circulated to MPs on Saturday, a day after Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced tougher action on exam fraud in response to the student agitation over the May NEET-UG paper leak.

What the Bill changes

The Indian Express, citing the draft text, reports the amendment would:

• Raise imprisonment for individuals involved in paper leaks from three-to-five years to five-to-ten years.
• Raise the fine from Rs 10 lakh to Rs 50 lakh.
• For organised crime involving unfair means, lift the minimum jail term from five years to at least seven years, and the fine from at least Rs 1 crore to at least Rs 10 crore.
• Create a Special Task Force to investigate unfair-means cases, with a two-month investigation timeline.

The original Public Examinations (Prevention of Unfair Means) Act was enacted in 2024 after a string of exam scandals. The 2026 amendment is the government's legislative answer to the CJP-led protest that emptied Jantar Mantar only after Pradhan quit.

Opposition keeps the heat on police action

CJP has withdrawn its street agitation. Opposition parties have not. The Hindu reported INDIA bloc leaders meeting Monday morning at the Rajya Sabha Leader of Opposition's office to plan strategy for the rest of the monsoon session.

Congress and other parties filed adjournment and suspension-of-business notices seeking debate on police force used against students during the July 20 "Sansad Chalo" march — including alleged pellet-gun fire — and on the NEET leak itself. Congress MP Manickam Tagore's Lok Sabha notice cites "excessive and lethal force, including alleged pellet guns and shock batons," and injuries that include "probable loss of eyesight."

Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi has written to Home Minister Amit Shah asking who authorised "lethal force" against peaceful student protesters. TMC MP Sagarika Ghose said the Home Minister and Prime Minister "will have to answer as to how pellet gun was used against unarmed youth."

DMK MP Tiruchi Siva moved a Rajya Sabha notice seeking discussion on NEET and student suicides, and calling for the exam's abolition. CPI MP P. Sandosh Kumar sought an independent judicial commission into police action and exam-system failure.

Samajwadi Party MP Ram Gopal Yadav told ANI that stricter laws alone will not stop leaks if drafting, printing and coaching-centre networks remain the weak points.

What we can verify

• The Public Examinations (Prevention of Unfair Means) Amendment Bill, 2026 is listed for introduction in the Lok Sabha on July 27, 2026, by Union Minister Jitendra Singh (The Hindu; The Indian Express).
• Cabinet approved the draft on Friday; it was circulated to MPs on Saturday (The Indian Express).
• Draft penalties: 5–10 years jail and up to Rs 50 lakh fine for individual leak offences; at least 7 years and at least Rs 10 crore for organised crime; Special Task Force with a two-month probe window (The Indian Express).
• CJP called off its Jantar Mantar agitation after Pradhan resigned and the Centre accepted remaining demands (The Hindu).
• Opposition MPs filed notices on police excesses at the July 20 protest and on NEET; Rahul Gandhi wrote to Amit Shah seeking accountability for force used on students (The Hindu; The Indian Express).

What remains unverified

• Whether the Bill is actually passed by the Lok Sabha on Monday, and in what final form, was still unfolding as of this report [unverified at time of writing].
• The full official text of the Cabinet note has not been published by the government; penalty figures rest on The Indian Express's reading of the draft circulated to MPs.
• No official count of FIRs still pending against CJP protesters has been released alongside the Bill [unverified].