New Delhi [India], July 29 : Congress MP Shashi Tharoor on Tuesday said the bill brought by the government to tackle paper leaks was "not enough", but there is a need for a system that prevents paper leaks.
Speaking on the Public Examinations (Prevention of Unfair Means) Amendment Bill, 2026, which seeks to enhance punishments for paper leaks, the Thiruvananthapuram MP on Tuesday said, "In fact, the BJP speakers were the ones who kept giving examples of paper leaks under previous governments...The question is not which party presided over more paper leaks. The question should be: the system is broken; how do we fix it?... If anyone is selling the dreams of our children, punish them. Ten years in jail, a Rs 10 crore fine, whatever penalty they decide, that is up to them. But this is already too late. Punishment comes after the government has failed, after paper leaks have already occurred. What we need is a system where we prevent paper leaks, not punish people after the crime has happened. That was the whole thrust of my message."
Criticising the government's move to establish fast-track courts, he cited 2025 figures and said, last year it registered 1.44 lakh cases and disposed of only 66,000 while pendency stood at 2.5 lakh cases.
"If you look at the record of fast-track courts in our country today, the existing fast-track courts are already under heavy burden. Last year, it registered 1.44 lakh cases and disposed of only 66,000. The pending cases in existing fast-track courts created by this government are over two and a half lakh. Unless the government also creates additional judges and courtrooms and appoints additional prosecutors? Today, there was a fast-track case, and the CBI prosecutor did not even appear. Now, if this is the way you are going to proceed, you will not achieve the kind of results you are promising in this Bill."
Arguing that students have already suffered by the time a person accused of leaking a NEET paper is punished, the MP said, When 21 students have committed suicide, these are parents who invested all their hopes in their children and have been left shattered...These are the dreams of the future of our country being shattered. How can we ever take this lightly? Passing a law to punish people is not enough. Let us try to ensure that this never happens again."
When asked about the expunged remarks of Congress MP Priyanka Gandhi Vadra regarding Union Minister Pralhad Joshi, Tharoor said, "I did not hear what was said. Since it has been expunged, I will not know exactly what was said. However, she is a very responsible person. I am sure that whatever she said is fully backed up. We will see what she said..."
Meanwhile, Tharoor, in a post on X, said, "I finally got to speak in the Lok Sabha on the Paper Leaks Amendment Bill at 10:40 pm. I dramatically abbreviated my arguments for lack of time, but made a few crucial points in the nine minutes I was given, punctuated by the Chair ringing the bell repeatedly and even switching off my mike at the end. But my core message was simple: the Bill increases punishment for those who sell our children's dreams, but what we need is to fix the system so that the crime doesn't occur in the first place. I gave a number of suggestions to that end. I repeated the message to the media outside, since the chamber was largely empty at this late hour."
The Lok Sabha on Tuesday witnessed a marathon debate on the Public Examinations (Prevention of Unfair Means) Amendment Bill, 2026, but it was inconclusive.
The Bill proposes to enhance the punishment for persons resorting to unfair means by increasing the term of imprisonment to not less than five years, extendable up to ten years, as against the existing provision of imprisonment for a term of not less than three years, extendable up to five years.
The maximum fine is also proposed to be enhanced from Rs 10 lakh to Rs 50 lakh.