Jitendra Singh to Table Sweeping Exam Reforms Bill

in Lok Sabha Amid NEET Fallout

Report By Y-Trendz

New Delhi, July 27, 2026 — Union Minister of State Dr. Jitendra Singh is set to move the Public Examinations (Prevention of Unfair Means) Amendment Bill, 2026 in the Lok Sabha today, seeking the

House's leave to introduce and pass the legislation in a single sitting. The bill arrives at a politically charged moment, coming barely two days after the Union Cabinet cleared a package of stringent anti-paper-leak measures and less than 48 hours after Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan's resignation, which President Droupadi Murmu accepted on the advice of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Singh, who holds charge as Minister of State for Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions, Minister of State in the Prime Minister's Office, and also heads the Science and Technology portfolio, will move for leave to introduce the bill and then seek its consideration and passage on the same day, according to the Lok Sabha's official List of Business for Monday.

Background: NEET-UG 2026 Crisis

The amendment bill is the government's principal legislative response to weeks of nationwide turmoil triggered by the alleged NEET-UG 2026 paper leak. The controversy sparked an unprecedented student movement, sustained Opposition disruption of Parliament, and a 37-day sit-in at Jantar Mantar led by the Cockroach Janata Party (CJP) alongside activist Sonam Wangchuk. The protest ended only after high-level negotiations involving Union Health Minister JP Nadda and Jitendra Singh, with the CJP formally withdrawing its agitation "in good faith" following an understanding reached with the Centre. That understanding culminated in Pradhan's resignation over the weekend, an outcome Opposition parties and student organisations have hailed as a "victory of the youth," while the government has cast it as part of a broader push to restore public confidence in the examination system.

The bill's introduction also follows a near-total washout of the first week of Parliament's ongoing Monsoon Session, which began on July 20 and was repeatedly stalled by Opposition protests over the paper-leak issue.

What the Bill Proposes

The Amendment Bill overhauls the original Public Examinations (Prevention of Unfair Means) Act, 2024, which Singh himself had introduced and steered through Parliament in February 2024. The new legislation introduces seven key amendments aimed at closing enforcement loopholes, creating dedicated judicial mechanisms, and speeding up criminal trials in paper-leak cases.

Key provisions include:

• Special Fast-Track Courts: State governments and Union Territory administrations will be empowered to designate Courts of Session as Special Fast-Track Courts exclusively for offences under the Act, and to appoint specialised prosecutors for such cases.
• Strict timelines: Investigations must be completed within two months of a case being registered, while trials must proceed on a day-to-day basis and conclude within three months of the chargesheet being filed. Courts may adjourn only for reasons recorded in writing.
• Tougher penalties: Individuals found using unfair means face five to ten years in prison, up from three to five years, with fines rising to Rs 50 lakh from Rs 10 lakh. Service providers and coaching centres facilitating malpractice face fines of up to Rs 5 crore, up from Rs 1 crore, along with an eight-year ban from conducting examinations, double the earlier four-year restriction, and liability to cover the cost of the compromised exam.
• Special Task Force: The Centre will gain authority to constitute a dedicated Special Task Force to investigate high-profile or inter-state examination fraud cases.
• Streamlined appeals: Appeals against fast-track court verdicts will go to a two-judge bench of the concerned High Court, which must dispose of them within three months. Parties must file appeals within 30 days, extendable only for demonstrated cause, with an absolute 90-day outer limit; intermediate revision petitions are barred to prevent delay.

As of July 2026, four cases have already been registered nationwide under the existing 2024 Act, spanning the jurisdictions of the Bombay High Court (two cases), Calcutta High Court, Delhi High Court and Madhya Pradesh High Court, with the pending matters expected to be transferred to the new special courts once notified.

What Lies Ahead

The bill's passage will be watched closely as a test of the government's ability to convert political concessions — Pradhan's exit chief among them — into durable institutional reform. Alongside the exam bill, the Lok Sabha's agenda for the day also includes the Income-tax (Amendment) Bill, 2026, the Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises Development (Amendment) Bill, 2026, the Registration of Births and Deaths (Amendment) Bill, 2026, and the Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Amendment Bill, 2026, as the government looks to use the restored legislative momentum to clear a broader backlog before the Monsoon Session concludes.