July 28, 2026
Abhishek Banerjee speaks on The Public Examinations (Prevention of Unfair Means) Amendment Bill, 2026
Full Transcript:
Sir, I rise here today to speak on the Public Examinations (Prevention of Unfair Means) Amendment Bill, 2026. We support this Bill, but I want to make it very clear at the very beginning that just because we support this Bill does not mean that the Government should expect us to applaud those who set the world on fire because they turn up with a bucket of water. We support this Bill and the amendment because no responsible political party.
Sir, varsh 2024 mein Bill laakar aaj amendment laana pad raha hai. … (Karyavaahi-vrittaant mein sammilit nahin kiya gaya.) … Sir, aap dekhiye charcha kaun chahta hai, kaun nahin chahta hai. Sir, Bill par charcha kaun chahta hai aur kaun nahin chahta hai, yeh saaf hai, yeh dikh raha hai.
Every student deserves the assurance that examinations would be fair. Every parent deserves the confidence that success is determined by hard work, talent and integrity, not by money, influence or organised criminal syndicates. But support for this Bill cannot be a substitute for accountability. A stronger law is necessary, yes, but by itself it is not sufficient. If examinations continue to be compromised by systematic failures, no amendment, however stringent, will restore the faith that millions of students have lost.
That is the question before this august House today. But let me also say this, the Bill that is being discussed is not a solution, rather this Bill is an admission. It is an admission that the NDA and the BJP Government have failed. It failed to protect examinations, it failed to protect the students, it failed to protect the merits. Today, after the failure exploded across the country, it wants the Parliament to believe that increasing punishment will erase 12 years of incompetence. Well, it will not. This Government has mastered one art.
Whenever governance fails, they change the law. Whenever administration collapses, they increase punishment. Whenever institutions fail, they announce another Committee. But governance is not done by headlines. Governance is measured by outcomes. What is the outcome?…. (Interruptions)
Sir, the outcome is paper leak after paper leak, exam cancellation after exam cancellation, student pushed into depression, parents pushed into debt, dreams pushed into uncertainty. The BJP Government calls itself a Government of New India. Sir, Young India today asked only one question. If this is new India, why do our examination paper leaks with such remarkable consistency?… (Interruptions)
Inko hangama karna hai, yahi nahin chahte ki Sadan chale. Sir, wahan Treasury Benches ke jo Members chilla rahe hain, aap unko bhi boliye ki ve shanti banakar rakhen... (Interruptions) Aap Opposition se expect nahin kar sakte ki hum log chup rahen aur ye log chillayen. Sir, they do not want a discussion. The Treasury Benches do not want the House to run. They do not want discussion….(Interruptions). Every Member of this House has to be treated equally.
Sir, if this is our new India, why do our examination paper leaks with such remarkable consistency is the question I would like to ask. Every year, the Government promises a new system. Every year, students get the same old scandal. The names of examinations change. The names of victims change. The names of accused change. But somehow, the crime in the Government never changes.
Sir, every time, there is a paper leak, the Government reacts as if they were seen as an unforeseen act of God, as though lightning has struck out of a clear sky. But that is not the reality. This is not lightning because lightning strikes once. Paper leaks in today’s India has become a pattern. It has become a system. And when the same failure repeats itself year after year, it ceases to be an incident or an accident, it becomes a system. When a system repeatedly fails, the responsibility lies not only with the students, but with those who are entrusted to govern the country.
The Government keeps saying, “We are the strongest Government, we are the most decisive Government, we are the most nationalist Government.” I would like to ask the Government, if they are so competent, so efficient, so strong and so decisive, then why it cannot secure a sealed question paper. You say you can monitor satellites. The Government says it can track missiles. The Government says it can defend cyber space.
Yet, somehow confidential examination papers seem to travel faster than the Government can detect them. What does it say about the state of affairs of the current Government? Then, comes the ultimate irony. A Government that speaks tirelessly about national security has, in some instances, reportedly had to resort to extraordinary security arrangements including military logistics and helicopters of the Indian Armed Forces and Indian Air Force being used to transport examination papers. Think about it for a moment. If a question paper requires the level of protection normally reserved for matters of national security, what does that tell us about the examination system? It tells us that the problem is no longer the paper The problem is the Government’s inability to protect it.
The youth of India did not ask for helicopters, they asked for honesty. They did not ask for empty slogans, they asked to secure their examinations. They did not ask for publicity, they asked for fairness. Let us remember what happened in the last two months. Lakhs of students in different parts of the country — young boys, girls, everyone — came on to the streets. Young boys, young girls, medical aspirants, engineering aspirants, students whose only cry was to ask the Government the right questions and who were believing in merit. Instead of listening to them, what did they receive? The Government offered them barricades, danda, police lathi-charged them, pellet guns were fired on them, and they were tear gassed. This Government seems to believe that every protest is a conspiracy, every student is an enemy, and every question is anti-national. Let me ask the Treasury Benches, when students ask for justice, why do you first inflict brutality or your first instinct becomes force instead of a dialogue? Why are young Indians treated as a law and order problem instead of stakeholders? History is witness.
Let me give you some examples from the last 12 years...(Interruptions) Let me give you a record of all the paper leaks that have taken place in the last 12 years…(Interruptions)
CBSE Class 12 paper was leaked in 2014, no conviction is on record.
In 2015-2016, in CBSE pre-medical entrance paper there have been four instances of paper leak in three separate years, namely 2015, 2016,and 2017. No conviction has taken place so far.
In 2015-2016, again AIPMT — All India Pre-Medical Test question papers were leaked across 10 States. What is the result? The Supreme Court scrapped the exam. No conviction has taken place, and no conviction is on record.
In the SSC CGL 2017, CBI investigation was ordered on an alleged paper leak, and there is zero conviction in that case as CBI probe is happening till now. To date, there has been no development.
Army Common Entrance exam paper leaked in 2017. CBI investigation ordered, zero conviction and CBI probe ongoing.
CBSE Class 10 and Class 12 Economics papers leaked. There is no conviction so far.
In 2021, irregularities found in JEE Main exam, CBI probe ordered and no conviction so far. In 2021 UPTET, CBI investigation ordered, zero conviction so far.
In 2022, the REET recruitment exam paper leaked, and the case is currently under trial.
Telangana Public Service Commission 2023 question papers were leaked which affected 25,000 candidates. There is zero conviction in it, and CBI probe is ongoing.
In 2024, after the Government was voted to power, NEET UG and UGC-NET Patna leak took place.
The Education Minister told the Parliament that there was no evidence of any leak in the last seven years. There is zero conviction in the last two years. In the UGC-NET, the exam was cancelled a day after nationwide protests were held. The CBI closure report found no evidence of leak.
Sir, let me give you another table. At least 17 exam related fraud investigations, including NEET-UG 2024, UGC-NET, SSC CGL, JEE Main, WBSSC, HP Police, are being probed by CBI, but there has been zero conviction in the last 12 years. In at least 11 PMLA proceedings involving attachments worth crores of rupees in alleged proceeds of crime, there has been zero conviction by Enforcement Directorate in the last 12 years.
The BJP Government should remember, every generation eventually writes its own report card, and the report card this generation is preparing for the current incumbent, the NDA Government will have only one word on the top of the report card which will say ‘failed’. It failed to protect the examination, failed to protect merit, failed to protect trust, failed to protect one’s dignity and honour.
The Government now say we have increased punishment, which is wonderful, but punishment for whom? If it is for criminals, good; if it is for organised syndicates, good, but where is the punishment for administrative negligence, where is the accountability of examination authorities, where is the accountability of Ministries, where is the accountability of the officials, where is the accountability of vendors who failed lakhs of students? The Bill is almost completely silent on this very pertinent question. This is the Government’s model – privatised responsibility, nationalised credit and socialised failure.
The Government has informed Parliament that it does not maintain any data on paper leaks. Imagine, it says it does not maintain any data on paper leaks! The Government knows how many toilets it has built. They know how any bank accounts exist. They can conveniently use Pegasus to spy on Opposition Members to keep track of their phones and messages. They know how many digital transactions happen every second, but they do not know how many examination papers were leaked.
Now, let us examine the performance. The fact that we are debating this amendment and discussing this amendment today, two years after the main Bill was brought in the House, is a testament to the fact that the Bill was a complete failure, and every two years or one year, Government needs a new amendment. Today, two years later, this Government itself is bringing an amendment because they also realised that the problem persists. If implementation fails, how does increasing the sentence solve the problem? A weaker investigation does not become strong because punishment becomes harsher. Young generation today, especially the young India is smarter than the BJP thinks. Generation Z or the millennials do not believe in every slogan.They ask for receipt; they ask for outcomes; they ask for accountability. They ask: if you promised secure examinations in 2024, why are we debating another emergency amendment in 2026? That is the question the Government cannot answer.
Young Indians today do not fear competition. They fear corruption. They do not fear merit. They fear manipulation. They do not fear examinations. They fear the system, and when young people stop trusting the system, democracy itself becomes weaker. Students are not asking for sympathy, they are asking for certainty. They are asking for one simple guarantee, if I study honestly for two years, let not somebody buy my future overnight. Is that too much to ask for?
The BJP constantly tell the young Indians, ‘be patriotic’. Let me say this today, the highest form of patriotism is protecting merit. When you ask someone to be patriotic, the highest form of patriotism is to protect the merit.The highest form of nationalism is ensuring that a daughter of a farmer or a son of a daily wage earner gets equal opportunity with the son of a crony capitalist or a crony billionaire friend. That is nationalism. That is patriotism.
Today, we support this amendment because students deserve every possible protection. But we refuse to allow this Government to convert legislation into a certificate of innocence. This Bill cannot wash away twelve years of incompetence and failure. It cannot erase cancelled examinations. It cannot erase broken dreams. It cannot erase the humiliation faced by lakhs of young Indians and it certainly cannot erase the images of students who came seeking justice and were met with barricades and pellet guns instead of love and compassion. Governments are not remembered by the speeches they make; they are remembered by the generation they leave behind. The Government promised Amrit Kaal. Instead, millions of students today have experienced ‘Anxiety Kaal’. They promised opportunity, but the students received uncertainty. They promised merit, but they delivered manipulation. They promised confidence, but what the students inherited is fear. Young India will remember who stood with them today. Young India will also remember who questioned them. And young India will remember who tried to suppress their voice instead of protecting their dreams. Supporting this Bill does not absolve the Government. But until this Government understands that accountability begins at the top, not at the bottom, the future of India’s students will remain vulnerable.
Finally, let me expose the biggest contradiction of this Government. Abhi do din pehle Instagram par Pradhan Mantri ji ka video aaya, wahan par unhone Fast-Track Court ki charcha ki. The Government proudly inaugurated the very first hearing of the so-called fast-track court in the NEET paper leak case. They have been telling the country that this amendment will ensure speedy justice through special courts and time-bound trials. But what happened on day one? Sir, yeh kal ki baat hai. The Special Judge had to adjourn the hearing because no one appeared on behalf of the CBI till 10.45 a.m. to oppose the bail application of the accused. This is the truth of the BJP Government. On television, they promise fast-track justice. Inside the courtroom, they cannot even ensure the presence of their own lawyer. If the prosecution itself does not show up on the very first day, what confidence should India’s students have in this Government’s promise of speedy justice? This is the question I would like to ask the Treasury Benches. Sir, this is exactly our objection to this Bill. The problem is not merely the law. The problem is the Government’s capacity and the Government’s intention to implement it. You can create ten fast-track courts. But if the investigating agency is absent, if the prosecution is unprepared, if accountability is missing, then justice continues to be delayed.
The youth of India are not asking for bigger headlines. They are asking for better governance They are not asking for another amendment. They are asking for a Government that takes their future seriously. A Government that cannot ensure the presence of its own lawyer in the very first hearing of the country’s biggest examination scam has no moral authority to lecture India’s students about discipline and accountability. Accountability must begin with the Government itself. The dreams of India’s youth cannot be built on fear. They can only be built on fairness, transparency, and trust. Anyay ki neenv par bhavishya ka nirmaan nahi ho sakta hai. This will be my appeal to the Government.
Thank you.
