Paper leak Bill a milestone, says govt; Opposition calls it ‘cosmetic exercise’

Treasury and Opposition benches sparred in the Lok Sabha on Tuesday (July 28, 2026) as the House took up the Public Examinations (Prevention of Unfair Means) Amendment Bill, 2026, with the Opposition describing it as an “admission of failure”.

Also read | Bill proposing harsher punishment for paper leaks taken up for discussion; milestone legislation, says government

Initiating the debate for the Opposition, Congress deputy leader Gaurav Gogoi questioned why the government was amending a law it had hailed as “historic” just two years ago.

“If that law was so effective, why has the government been forced to bring such major amendments within two years?” Mr. Gogoi asked, calling the Bill a “cosmetic exercise” that reflected the failure of the 2024 law enacted after the earlier NEET-UG controversy.

He argued that the latest paper leak had exposed the government’s inability to protect the integrity of public examinations and said harsher punishments alone would not end the menace without structural reforms in the education system. 

Referring to the nationwide student protests, Mr. Gogoi condemned the use of pellet guns and electric batons, saying students had taken to the streets out of “deep pain and anxiety” over their future.

The Congress leader also questioned the fate of recommendations by the 2024 committee headed by former ISRO chairman K. Radhakrishnan and sought details of the 47 officials the government claimed to have removed or transferred from the National Testing Agency (NTA). 

“Who are these 47 people, when the sanctioned strength of the NTA is 34?” Mr. Gogoi asked. He also questioned why the government had so much faith in the NTA chairman. “Is it because he is associated with a particular Sangh?” he asked.

The Congress leader also alleged that 44 of the 45 accused in the 2024 NEET-UG paper leak case had secured bail.

Mr. Gogoi and several other MPs objected to BJP MP Dharmendra Pradhan being given a “grand welcome” by his party colleagues in Parliament even after he had to resign as the Union Education Minister. “It is as if he had won a war with Pakistan,” Mr. Gogoi said. 

Samajwadi Party (SP) MP Dimple Yadav lashed out at the government for the police action against protesting students. “The government could pressurise some of the MPs sitting here to try and pass the Delimitation Bill, but it could not put pressure on students,” she said, while reading out the names of the students who allegedly died by suicide over the NEET paper leak. 

BJP counters

Responding to the Opposition, BJP MP Anurag Thakur hit out at Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi for sitting on a dharna outside the Prime Minister’s residence, saying Mr. Gandhi did so because students did not ask him to lead the protests.

Mr. Thakur also said Prime Minister Narendra Modi continues to be popular among the country’s youth, adding his Instagram video on the issue had garnered over 400 million views.

Defending the Bill, BJP MP Bansuri Swaraj accused the Opposition of “selective outrage”, contending that paper leaks had also occurred under the UPA government’s tenure. Calling the amendment “transformative”, she said it would strengthen the legal framework through faster prosecution, stricter punishment and measures to tackle organised examination mafias.

Shiv Sena MP Shrikanth Shinde accused the Opposition of politicising the issue while the Modi government is taking decisive steps to tackle examination paper leaks.