India's Lok Sabha on July 27 passed the Public Examination (Prevention of Unfair Means) Amendment Bill, 2026, introducing stricter punishments for paper leaks, according to multiple reports. Union Minister Jitendra Singh told the House that the government had acted swiftly in the NEET paper leak case, registering 52 FIRs since the anti-paper leak law came into force in 2024. The amendment was cleared amid opposition din.
Separately, a bill to make delayed registration of births and deaths more stringent was introduced in the Lok Sabha, The Hindu reported. Under the proposed law, the system for births or deaths reported between one and two years after the event would remain largely unchanged.
In the Rajya Sabha, a bill to make insulting 'Vande Mataram' a criminal offence was cleared, NDTV reported. The bill, introduced on July 24, seeks to give the national song the same statutory protection as the national anthem 'Jana Gana Mana'.