(1) This Act may be called the 2Telangana Public Examinations (Prevention of Malpractice and Unfair means) Act, 1997.
(2) It extends to the whole of the State of 2Telangana.
(3) Section 12 shall come into force with immediate effect and the remaining sections shall be deemed to have come into force with effect from 28th April, 1997.
2. In this Act, unless the context otherwise requires,-
(a) “Examination Centre” means any institution or part thereof or any other place fixed for the holding of a public examination and includes the entire premises attached thereto;
(b) “Government” means the State Government of 2Telangana;
(c) “Notification” means a notification published in the 2Telangana Gazette and the word „notified‟ shall be construed accordingly;
1. The Andhra Pradesh Public Examinations (Prevention of Malpractices and Unfair means) Act, 1997 received the assent of the Governor on the 19th August, 1997. The said Act in force in the combined State, as on
02.06.2014, has been adapted to the State of Telangana, under section 101 of the Andhra Pradesh Reorganisation Act, 2014 (Central Act 6 of 2014) vide. the Telangana Adaptation of Laws Order, 2016, issued in G.O.Ms.No.45, Law (F) Department, dated 01.06.2016.
2. Substituted by G.O.Ms.No.45, Law (F) Department, dated 01.06.2016.
Short title, extent and commencement.
Definitions.
2 [Act No.25 of 1997]
(d) “Prescribed” means prescribed by rules made by the Government under this Act;
(e) “Public Examination” means any examination either qualifying or competitive conducted by the Government or any other authority or body or any university under any law for the time being inforce for awarding or granting any degree, diploma, certificate or any other academic distinction or for qualifying for admission into any course of study or for selecting for appointment or regularisation or promotion to any post in public service and includes any other examination declared by the Government by notification to be a public examination.
Explanation: For the purposes of this clause, the expression, „Public Service‟ means services in any office or establishment of,-
(a) the Government;
(b) a local authority;
(c) a corporation or undertaking wholly owned or controlled by the State Government;
(d) a body established under any law made by the Legislature of the State whether incorporated or not, including a University;
(e) any other body established by the State Government or by a society registered under any law relating to the registration of societies for the time being in force, and receiving funds from the State Government either fully or partly for its maintenance or any educational institution whether registered or not but receiving aid from the Government;
[Act No.25 of 1997] 3
(f) “Unfair means” in relation to an examinee appearing in a public examination means the unauthorised help from any person in any manner or from any material written, recorded, printed or reproduced in any form whatsoever or the unauthorised use of any telephonic, wireless or electronic or other instrument or gadget in any manner; and
(g) all words and expressions used but not defined in this Act shall have meanings assigned to them in the 3Telangana Education Act, 1982, or as the case may be, in the Indian Penal Code, 1860.
3. The use of unfair means at or in of the use connection with any public examination by any person is hereby prohibited.
4. No person who is not lawfully authorised or permitted by virtue of his duties so to do shall, before the time fixed for the examinees to leave an examination centre at a public examination,-
(a) procure or attempt to procure or possess, such question paper or any portion or a copy thereof; or
(b) impart, or offer to impart information which he knows or has reason to believe, to be related to, or derived from, or to have a bearing upon such question paper.
5. No person who is entrusted with any work pertaining to a public examination shall, except where he is permitted by virtue of his duties so to do, directly or indirectly divulge or cause to be divulged or make known to any other person any information or part thereof which has come to his knowledge by virtue of the work being so entrusted to him.
3. Adapted by G.O.Ms.No.15, Higher Education (TE) Department, dated
23.04.2015.
Prohibition of the use of unfair means.
Unauthorised possession and disclosure of question paper.
Prevention of leakage by person entrusted with examination work.
Act 1 of 1982.
Central Act 45 of 1860.
4 [Act No.25 of 1997]
6. No person shall directly or indirectly indulge or involve in any manipulation or attempted manipulation of the evaluation of the performance of an examinee at a public examination or the record of such evaluation.
Explanation:- For the purposes of this section, the expression „record of evaluation‟ includes answer scripts, tabulation sheets, marks registers, individual mark sheets, result sheets, or the copies thereof or any other registers or records maintained in this behalf.
7. No person connected with an educational institution or a tutorial institution shall offer or promise any guarantee of performance of success at a public examination in advance as an inducement for admission into such educational institution or tutorial institution.
4[7A. No person connected with an educational institution or a tutorial institution shall publish false or misleading information relating to the success of its students in a public examination.
Explanation:- For the purposes of this section, an advertisement or other mode of publicity:-
(i) claiming that any student belongs to a particular educational or tutorial institution to which such student was never admitted; or
(ii) showing against a candidate any rank other than the rank assigned to him/her by the Convenor of a public examination while declaring the results of such examination, shall be construed as false or misleading information.]
4. Inserted with marginal heading by Act No.27 of 2006.
Prevention of manipulation of evaluation or record of such evaluation.
Prevention of inducement for admission.
Prevention of publication of false or misleading information.
[Act No.25 of 1997] 5
8. Whoever contravenes or attempts or conspires to contravene or abets the contravention of the provisions of section 3 or section 4 or section 5 or section 6 or section 7 5[or section 7A] shall be punishable with imprisonment for a term which shall not be less than three years but which may extend upto seven years and with fine which shall not be less than rupees five thousand, but which may extend upto rupees one lakh.
9. Whoever commits an offence punishable under section 8 having made preparation for causing death of any person or causing hurt to any person or assaulting any person or wrongfully restraining any person or for putting any person in fear of death or hurt or assault or wrongful restraint shall be punishable with imprisonment for a term which shall not be less than five years but which may extend upto ten years and with fine which shall not be less than rupees ten thousand but which may extend upto rupees one lakh.
10. Whoever being entrusted with any work or has to perform any duty pertaining to a public examination wilfully neglects such work or duty required to be performed by him shall be punishable with imprisonment for a term which shall not be less than six months but which may extend upto three years and with fine which shall not be less than rupees five thousand, but which may extend upto rupees one lakh.