India passes anti-cheating law with up to 10 years jail, $1M fine after exam scandal

Published Jul 30, 06:16 PM UTC

The Indian parliament adopted a law on July 30, 2026, toughening sanctions against exam fraud, doubling maximum penalties to ten years in prison and fines exceeding one million dollars. The law responds to a student uprising triggered by massive fraud during a national medical school entrance exam in May, for which over 2 million candidates registered. The scandal may have contributed to about twenty student suicides. The protest movement, led by the 'Cockroach People's Party' (CJP) created on social media, forced Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan to resign on July 25. On July 20, huge crowds attempted to march toward Parliament, leading to police clashes and arrests. India's federal investigation agency charged 13 people with offenses related to the exam paper leak. The law must be signed by President Droupadi Murmu before enactment.

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