Parliament Passes Paper Leak Bill Amid Opposition Walkout

The Indian Parliament passed the Public Examinations (Prevention of Unfair Means) Amendment Bill, 2026, after both houses approved it earlier this week. The Lok Sabha cleared the bill on Wednesday, and the Rajya Sabha followed suit on Thursday. However, opposition members from the Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA) left the Rajya Sabha before the minister’s response to a lengthy debate.

The government introduced the bill as part of its supplementary agenda. During the discussion, Minister of State for Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions Jitendra Singh defended the bill, claiming it aims to ensure fairness and transparency in public exams. He argued that the government has already taken steps to improve medical education by increasing the number of seats at All India Institutes of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) and emphasized the National Education Policy’s focus on giving students more freedom in choosing subjects.

Opposition leaders criticized the bill, accusing the government of failing to address exam paper leaks. Mallikarjun Kharge, an opposition leader, demanded a Supreme Court-monitored probe into recent incidents like the NEET paper leak and called for Union Home Minister Amit Shah’s resignation. He also highlighted that no officials have been punished for past leaks, despite widespread protests.

Congress MP Mukul Wasnik and Trinamool Congress member Sagarika Ghose echoed similar demands, urging the Home Minister to apologize or resign. Meanwhile, Rashtriya Janata Dal and Samajwadi Party MPs called for the National Testing Agency (NTA) to be disbanded. The Communist Party of India (Marxist) criticized the government for ignoring the root causes of exam malpractices, such as commercialization of education. The DMK opposed the bill by moving amendments, which were rejected.