Jharkhand introduces Anti-Cheating Bill; Rs 10 crore fine if caught
Terming the law as draconian, the opposition led by the BJP demanded the Bill to be sent to the select committee.
Jharkhand Assembly has passed a bill to curb cheating in competitive examinations. Parliamentary Affairs Minister Alamgir Alam tabled the ‘Jharkhand Competitive Examination (Prevention and Redressal of Unfair Means in Recruitment) Bill, 2023,’ which aims to prevent plagiarism in competitive examinations.
This law provides for a fine of Rupees 10 crore and life imprisonment which will be non-bailable and non-compoundable. The police would also be entitled to file an FIR without any inquiry and make an arrest without any prior permission.
The opposition led by BJP termed the bill as draconian and said that the bill should be sent to the select committee. BJP MLA Anant Ojha said, “The Bill, which was introduced in a hurry, will be known as a draconian law in history. The provisions made in the law would ultimately impact students.”
Amar Bauri, another BJP legislator said, “There is hardly any issue of paper leak in Jharkhand. Here irregularities are done by examination conducting bodies but the provisions in the law provide them patronage. Student organizations and media will get scared to raise irregularities as they may be put behind bars. The provisions are too harsh.”
However, rejecting the suggestion of the opposition, Alam said a tough law is required to stop use of unfair means during examinations such as paper leaks and cheating and to deter people from resorting to such means.
Addressing the opposition, the chief minister Hemant Soren said, “Jharkhand is not the first state to pass such a Bill as other states have done it earlier.” The CM said, “BJP is terming the law as draconian. Whole world is watching how NDA brings Bills and passes them in Parliament. The Centre passed the Forest (Conservation) Amendment Bill, despite protests by the state government.”
Reacting to the CM’s statement, the opposition MLAs went into the well of the house demanding that the bill be revoked for competitive exams. The opposition MLAs also tore up copies of the bill and later staged a walkout of the assembly.
