Patna, Jul 24 (IANS): The Bihar government passed the Anti-Paper Leak Bill 2024 in the Assembly on Wednesday which has stringent penalties for exam-related offences.

Offenders can now face up to 10 years in jail and fines up to 1 crore. The new law applies to all exams in the state.

Individuals caught taking exams for someone else will face three to five years in jail and a fine of 10 lakhs.

If an institution is involved in exam irregularities, it will bear the cost of the examination, and its property may be confiscated.

The Bill’s passage saw significant opposition as the opposition leaders caused a ruckus and walked out of the House.

Parliamentary Affairs Minister Vijay Chaudhary accused the opposition of defending offenders, emphasising that the government is serious about tackling paper leaks.

“The new law is stricter than the previous one which was enacted in 1981. The previous law only imposed a six-month sentence for such offences,” he said.