Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced late Thursday night that a new law would be introduced providing for strict punishment against paper leaks. He stated that the draft of this law would be discussed at the Cabinet meeting on Friday and, after approval, would be presented to Parliament next week. The government is preparing to have the law passed as quickly as possible.

At midnight, Modi released a 2-minute, 56-second video message via his X account, stating that paper leaks are not a trivial matter. “This is an extremely painful issue for millions of students and their parents,” he said. 

He informed that, over the past two and a half months, the culprits had been arrested and sent to jail, and that, to prevent students from losing their academic year, exams were conducted for 2.2 million students in a short period. He also mentioned that the results of those exams were published on July 19.

Modi made it clear that the government would not be satisfied with just this, stating that he had already directed the formation of a fast-track court for the swift hearing of paper leak cases. He said the relevant departments had prepared and submitted the draft law, which includes provisions for fast-track courts and strict punishment.

Previously, Modi had also stated that a fast-track court would be formed for paper leak cases. The entire controversy is related to the leak of the question paper for the NEET UG entrance exam held on May 3.

In protest of this incident, the “Cockroach Janata Party (CJP)” has been demonstrating at Delhi’s Jantar Mantar for a month. Social activist Sonam Wangchuk had gone on a hunger strike for 26 days, and opposition MPs have also been protesting this issue in Parliament. Wangchuk has now ended his hunger strike at midnight. He has also urged all concerned parties not to make the movement more violent.

The investigation of this incident is currently being conducted by India’s Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI). The investigation has been expanded to various states including Maharashtra, Rajasthan, and Delhi. So far, 13 people have been arrested, and Indian media have reported that the CBI is preparing to file a charge sheet soon.

Major reactions following Modi’s video

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi criticized the Prime Minister’s video message, calling it a “pointless midnight video.” He wrote via X, “Students are demanding the resignation of Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan. Do not insult their intelligence with such a video. Remove Dharmendra Pradhan from his post, take action against those who oppress students, and apologize publicly.”

The “Cockroach Janata Party” also stated that removing Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan from his post would be the government’s strongest action. The party’s national spokesperson Ashutosh Ranka said, “Modiji, remove Dharmendra Pradhan tomorrow itself; that will be the strongest action.”

Two statements from Modi in the past four days

At the NDA parliamentary party meeting on July 21, Prime Minister Modi called the question paper leak a “grave sin” and said that the guilty would be given strict punishment. He also urged state governments to cooperate in preventing such incidents in the future.

On July 23, via X, he stated that the future of the youth is the government’s highest priority and informed that a fast-track court would be formed to resolve all issues related to the question paper leak quickly.