A Bill that proposes to declare question paper leak a serious criminal offence with a penal clause of up to five years, imprisonment was tabled in the Legislative Assembly on Thursday.
The Karnataka Education (Amendment) Bill, 2017 also defines question paper, leakage of question paper and malpractice so that there is no ambiguity while prosecuting those indulging in paper leaks.
The bill was tabled by Health Minister K R Ramesh Kumar on behalf of Primary and Secondary Education Minister Tanveer Sait. The provisions of the bill will be applicable to the examinations conducted by Karnataka Secondary Education Examination Board (KSEEB) and Department of PU Education (DPUE).
The government had promised to come out with such a Bill after facing severe embarrassment following two consecutive leaks of the second year PU chemistry paper last year.
According to the provisions of the Bill, any person indulging in question paper leak will face a term of up to five years or a fine of Rs 5 lakh or both.
The provision of the Bill is applicable to those found buying, selling, in illegal possession of question paper before it is distributed in the examination hall. Leaking question papers through WhatsApp or other social media will also be treated as a criminal offence.
The Bill also proposes to crack down on those instigating teachers to boycott evaluation duty. Those guilty of instigating teachers to boycott examination work or evaluation duty can be punished with a five-year jail term. The Bill proposes to enhance the fine which can be imposed on those who have been assigned examination work but fail to report to duty from the present Rs 1,000 to Rs 2,000 with a one-year jail term.
The Bill provides to empower KSEEB and DPUE to debar students, suspend or withdraw recognition of educational institutions indulging in malpractice.
The Bill defines malpractice as “any illegal act committed by a person individually or in collusion with any other person before, during or after examination hours in order to obtain undeserved marks or grades”.
Published 09 February 2017, 20:03 IST