Rahul’s claim – 152 papers leaked in 10 years, not even a single one was punished; Is there a loophole in the law?

Amidst the ongoing protests over the NEET paper leak, Rahul Gandhi held a press conference on 22 July 2026, the second day of the dharna at the PM’s residence, in which he said that in the last 10 years, papers have been leaked 152 times in the country, due to which about 7.5 crore students and their families have been affected, but no culprit has been punished in any of these cases so far. On the other hand, amidst the continuous protests, Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced on social media that fast track courts will be created to give quick and strict punishment to the culprits in paper leak cases. A fresh discussion has started regarding this also. But meanwhile the question arises that when there are dozens of laws in the country to stop paper leaks, then why is the punishment rate so low and what is the loophole in the law which the accused take advantage of.

What kind of laws are there?

Before understanding what is the loophole in the law, let us also know about the law.

Strict law of the Center- The Public Examinations (Prevention of Unfair Means) Act, 2024 applies to public examinations like UPSC, SSC, NTA, RRB and IBPS.

What are the crimes? Leaking question papers, buying and selling, running solver gangs and hacking computer systems related to the examination are crimes under this law.

Provision of strict punishment- In normal cases, the punishment can be 3 to 5 years in jail and a fine of up to Rs 10 lakh, while in organized crime, the punishment can be 5 to 10 years in jail and a fine of up to Rs 1 crore. Besides, the loss incurred by the examination agency can also be compensated.

States’ own laws- Many states including Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Gujarat and Uttarakhand have also implemented different strict laws to prevent paper leaks and examination rigging.

New step of Bihar- Considering paper leak as an organized crime, Bihar government has approved amendment in Bihar Crime Control Act, 2024, so that Goonda Act can also be imposed on the accused.

How many accused were made in the paper leak?

In the NEET-UG 2024 paper leak case, CBI arrested 45 people and filed a charge sheet against them. In the same case, 13 members of the same family were also arrested in Bihar. At the same time, 13 accused have been arrested so far in the NEET 2026 paper leak case in Maharashtra. On May 12, 2026, on the complaint of the Education Ministry, the CBI had registered a case of NEET-UG 2026 paper leak, after which the agency arrested several accused including Shivraj Motegaonkar, director of Renukai Career Center, Latur, and chemistry expert P.V. Kulkarni. The investigation is still going on, the court has also given permission to the CBI to interrogate the accused and the judicial custody of many accused is being continuously increased. That is, in terms of numbers, arrests are being made continuously, but according to Rahul Gandhi’s claim, the number of cases reaching the final punishment is almost zero.

What is the biggest loophole?

The biggest reason is the long time taken for investigation and filing of chargesheet. According to the law, if the charge sheet is not filed within 90 days, then the accused gets the right to get bail, no matter how serious the case is. Actually, this is the real loophole – even though the punishment provisions in laws like paper leak have been made strict up to life imprisonment, this general rule related to the penal procedure applies to these strict laws also and no separate exemption has been given in it. The result is that no matter how big a mastermind the accused is, if the investigating agency is not able to present the charge sheet within the stipulated time, then the court is left with no legal option other than granting bail, because it becomes the statutory right of the accused.

Apart from this, in deciding the bail, the court also looks at aspects like the seriousness of the crime, the level of investigation, the possibility of evidence being tampered with and the possibility of influencing witnesses, but this provision of a time limit of 90 days overshadows all these. In paper leak cases, due to reasons like hundreds of witnesses, investigation spread across several states, lengthy analysis of forensic and digital evidence, the investigation takes a long time to complete, in such a situation the stipulated limit of 90 days is often not met and this technical flaw becomes the way to expel the big accused. This is the reason that despite being arrested, the big masterminds easily come out and the case drags on in the long court process, due to which it takes years to reach the final punishment.

This can be understood with an example Sanjeev Mukhiya, considered the main accused in the 2024 NEET paper leak case, was arrested. However, CBI could not file a charge sheet against him within 90 days of his arrest. After this, the special CBI court of Patna granted him the first statutory (default) bail under the provisions of the law. Now CIB gave clean chit today i.e. on 23rd July due to lack of evidence. CBI had already filed chargesheet against many other accused in this case. This example shows that if the investigating agency does not file the charge sheet within the stipulated time limit, then even in serious cases the accused can get default bail under the law.

Formation of fast track court

Amidst this increasing pressure and the ongoing student movement at Jantar Mantar, Prime Minister Narendra Modi made a big announcement through a post on social media. He said that there is nothing bigger than the welfare and future of the youth, hence the government has decided to create fast track courts to hear the cases related to paper leak, so that the culprits can be punished quickly and strictly and there is no delay in the disposal of the cases. PM Modi has also given instructions to the concerned officers and departments to take necessary steps in this direction and has warned that those who play with the future of the youth will not be spared.

There are mainly two types of fast track courts. First, the Fast Track Special Court (FTSC), where both rape and POCSO (child sexual offences) cases are heard. Second, exclusive POCSO courts, which are formed only to hear cases related to POCSO law. In these courts, special care is taken for the convenience and safety of children. Both types of courts generally aim to dispose of cases within 6 months to 1 year, although it may take longer due to reasons such as delays in investigation or lack of evidence.

There is no separate judicial system for fast track courts. In these, the hearing is conducted by the same judges who are appointed by the concerned High Court or the State Government and here also the rules of BNSS apply like normal courts. Appeals can also be made against the decisions of these courts. The decision of the district level fast track court can be challenged in the High Court, while there is a right of appeal against the decision of the High Court in the Supreme Court.

Also read- Decision within 14-16 days. How does fast track court work in India? Now will it hear the paper leak case?