Unruly scenes unfolded in the Rajya Sabha during a debate on the anti-paper leak Bill on Thursday after Leader of the Opposition, Mallikarjun Kharge invoked the Manusmriti, triggering strong protests from members of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
Kharge while speaking in Rajya Sabha on anti-paper leak Bill suddenly read some lines for ‘Manusmriti’. This angered the rulig party members who objected to it. Union Minister JP Nadda who is leader of the house (Rajya Sabha) led BJP’s counter urging the speaker to enpunge the remarks which, according to him, can potentially ‘disrupt peace of the society.’
“I request Kharge ji to authenticate his remarks with original text,” Nadda said.
The Manusmriti, usually translated as “code of Manu”, literally means “reflections of Manu”. It is basically a Hindu scripture authored by a medieval ascetic named Manu and has widely been criticised for its gender and caste-based provisions.
The Congress has long accused the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), the BJP’s ideological fountainhead, of wanting the Manusmriti, rather than the Constitution, to serve as the guiding framework for governing the country.
Earlier, Khare expressed convern over so many innocent people suffering due to paper leaks.
“Nothing is going to happen with this new Bill as only some data has been changed in old law. Provisions have been made for hefty fine, strict punishment, special task force, fast track courts, however, nothing is going to change. Real change will only happen how you conduct examinations. There is nothing new in the bill. We had demanded a strict law in 2024 itself, but our demand was rejected,” Kharge said.
Kharge was speaking during the debate on Public Examinations (Prevention of Unfair Means) Amendment Bill, 2026, tabled in the Rajya Sabha by Union Minister Jitendra Singh. The Bill, which basically amends a 2024 law, was passed in the Lok Sabha on 29 July.
Nothing is going to happen with this new Bill… Real change will only happen how you conduct examinations.
The amended law has been brought after protests by students over NEET paper leaks.
Calling it a significant step, Singh said the new Anti-Paper Leak Bill reaffirms the government’s highest commitment to protecting the interests and welfare of students and young people across the country.
The proposed legislation seeks to establish dedicated fast-track courts in every state to exclusively hear paper leak cases, while requiring investigations to be completed within two months.
It also proposes substantially tougher penalties, including imprisonment of up to ₹50 lakh” data-vars-section-name=”Politics” data-vars-sub-section-name=”” data-vars-story-id=”11785318841777″>10 years and fines of up to ₹50 lakh for those convicted of leaking examination papers. Organised paper leak syndicates could face fines of up to ₹10 crore, underscoring the government’s effort to strengthen deterrence and safeguard the credibility of public examinations.
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