"Any person or persons resorting to unfair means and offences under this Act shall be punished with imprisonment for a term not less than three years but which may extend to five years and with fine up to 10 lakh," said the Act. A service provider, engaged by the public examination authority for conduct of examinations, shall also be liable to be punished with imposition of a fine up to 1 crore "and proportionate cost of examination shall also be recovered" from it, according to the Act. Such service providers shall also be barred from being assigned with any responsibility for the conduct of any public examination for a period of four years.
[Extracted, with edits and revisions from "Act that Punishes Organized Cheating in Government Exams Comes into Effect" published in The Hindu dated 22-06-2024]
A Bill becomes an Act only when:
- Both the houses of the Parliament pass with simple majority
- Both the houses of the Parliament pass with absolute majority
- When the Prime Minister of India gives his approval
- When the President of India gives the Assent
The Correct Option is D
Solution and Explanation
In the context of the legislative process in India, a Bill becomes an Act when it receives a specific approval. The options provided outline various stages and approvals that can occur in the legislative process. Here’s a breakdown:
1. Both the houses of the Parliament pass with simple majority: This stage involves both the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha passing the Bill with a simple majority. However, this alone does not make a Bill an Act.
2. Both the houses of the Parliament pass with absolute majority: Passing a Bill with an absolute majority indicates broader support but still does not result in the Bill becoming an Act.
3. When the Prime Minister of India gives his approval: The Prime Minister's approval is influential but not a constitutional requirement for a Bill to become an Act.
4. When the President of India gives the Assent: The Constitution of India mandates that for a Bill to become an Act, it must receive the assent of the President. This is the final step in the legislative process, making option 4 the correct one.
Conclusion: In India, a Bill passed by both Houses of Parliament becomes an Act only after receiving the President's assent.
A service provider, engaged by the public examination authority for conduct of examinations, indirectly helped his family member by giving hint on questions that were supposed to be added in the examination shall
- be liable to be punished with imposition of a fine upto 1 crore
- be liable to be punished with imposition of a fine upto 1 crore and the entire cost of conduct of the examination
- be liable to be punished with imposition of a fine upto 1 crore and the entire cost of conduct of the examination
- none of the above
The Correct Option is B
Solution and Explanation
Based on the Public Examinations (Prevention of Unfair Means) Act, 2024, any form of malpractice, including indirectly assisting a candidate through hints on questions, is punishable. The pertinent details from the Act specify:
- Those resorting to unfair practices in public examinations can face imprisonment between three to five years.
- A fine up to ₹10 lakh may be imposed for individuals, whereas service providers like the one mentioned can be fined up to ₹1 crore.
- Furthermore, for a service provider who assists or leaks questions, the proportional cost of the examination is also to be recovered from them.
- They are additionally barred from any examination conduct responsibility for four years.
Therefore, the correct implication for the service provider in this scenario is that they would be liable to be punished with imposition of a fine up to 1 crore and the entire cost of conduct of the examination.
An invigilator of a public examination found guilty of manipulating the seating arrangement to favour his relative writing the public examination is punished by the Court. Which among the following is the appropriate punishment as per the punishment mentioned in the above passage?
- Imprisonment for 1 year and a fine of 10 lakhs
- Imprisonment for 2 years and a fine of 10 lakhs
- Imprisonment for 3 years and a fine of 15 lakhs
- Imprisonment for 4 years and fine of 5 lakhs
The Correct Option is C
Solution and Explanation
"Any person or persons resorting to unfair means and offences under this Act shall be punished with imprisonment for a term not less than three years but which may extend to five years and with fine up to 10 lakh." Thus, considering the legislative framework, the apt punishment according to the choices given is:
Identify which of the following is not an unfair means relating to the conduct of a public examination?
- Coaching Centre conducting mock tests for students
- The Coaching Centre offering help to its students during the examination
- The Centre Superintendent of the public examination on the request of the Coaching Centre provides seating arrangement of all its students in one hall
- The Centre Superintendent of the public examination indirectly assisting the candidate
The Correct Option is A
Solution and Explanation
- Coaching Centre conducting mock tests for students: Conducting mock tests does not involve any malpractices as described in the Act. It is a legitimate educational practice aimed at preparing students.
- The Coaching Centre offering help to its students during the examination: This action would be considered as "directly or indirectly assisting the candidate in any manner unauthorisedly in the public examination," which is punishable under the Act.
- The Centre Superintendent of the public examination on the request of the Coaching Centre provides seating arrangement of all its students in one hall: Such an arrangement could potentially facilitate cheating or unfair advantage and falls under "manipulation in seating arrangements," which is considered an offence.
- The Centre Superintendent of the public examination indirectly assisting the candidate: This is a direct violation within the context of "assisting the candidate unauthorisedly," and is clearly an unfair means.
Who among the following is not a service provider in the context of a public examination?
- Coaching Centre which prepares students for passing in the public examination
- Printing Press where the question paper of the public examination is printed
- The Software Company that manages the website of the public examination
- The Company which scans the OMR sheets of the public examination
The Correct Option is A
Solution and Explanation
To determine who among the options is not a service provider in the context of a public examination, we need to evaluate the role each option plays in the examination process as per the legal context provided.
- Coaching Centre which prepares students for passing in the public examination: This entity provides educational services to students to help them succeed but is not directly involved in the examination’s operational processes like printing, website management, or scan processing. Thus, it does not fall under the category of a service provider in this context.
- Printing Press where the question paper of the public examination is printed: This is a service provider because it facilitates the official operation of the examination by printing the necessary materials.
- The Software Company that manages the website of the public examination: This company is a service provider as it is engaged in managing critical infrastructure for conducting examinations.
- The Company which scans the OMR sheets of the public examination: This entity provides services integral to the examination process by handling the scanning and processing of answer sheets.
Based on the roles described, the "Coaching Centre which prepares students for passing in the public examination" does not qualify as a service provider in the context of the public examination, as it offers preparatory support rather than operational services essential to the examination process.
Top Questions on Current Legal Affairs
- What does the term "voir dire" refer to in legal proceedings?
- TS LAWCET - 2024
- Legal Studies
- Current Legal Affairs
- In India, the legal landscape surrounding online defamation is a subject of significant interest and debate. With the rise of social media, and online platforms, cases of online defamation have become increasingly common. Defamation refers to making false statements about someone that harm their reputation. Online defamation includes defamatory statements made on the internet, including social media, blogs, forums, and other online platforms.
One critical aspect of online defamation is determining the liability of intermediaries, such as social media platforms or websites, for defamatory content posted by users. Section 79 of the Information Technology Act, 2000, provides a safe harbor for intermediaries, stating that they are not liable for third-party content if they act as intermediaries and follow due diligence in removing or disabling access to the content once notified.
However, determining whether an intermediary has fulfilled its due diligence obligations can be complex. The Indian judiciary has been actively interpreting this provision. One significant case is the Shreya Singhal v. Union of India, in which the Supreme Court clarified that intermediaries are required to act upon a valid court order or government directive for content removal, not upon private complaints.
The court also emphasized that the intermediaries should not take a proactive role in monitoring content, as this could potentially infringe on free speech. While the law provides a safe harbor, it does not absolve intermediaries from their responsibilities.
Online defamation cases often involve a balancing act between the right to freedom of expression and the right to reputation. The Indian legal system requires a careful examination of the content, context, and intent of the statements to determine whether they qualify as defamatory. Additionally, the plaintiff in an online defamation case must prove that the statement was false, damaging to their reputation, and made with a degree of fault, such as negligence or actual malice.- CLAT - 2024
- Legal Studies
- Current Legal Affairs
- There are some advantages of the Digital Personal Data Protection Act (DPDPA), 2023. For instance, for the first time, personal data belonging to or identifying children will have to be classified separately, with such data carrying a greater degree of security and privacy. The law also seeks to reduce the rate and impact of data breaches targeting Indian businesses. The Digital Personal Data Protection law, however, goes a step beyond by imposing penalties for cases where data is breached as a result of a lack of implementation of adequate security controls. However, it could be said that the law isn’t balanced, because it provides wide exemptions to the processing of personal data to the government. For instance, data can be processed “in the interest of prevention, detection, investigation or prosecution of any offence … in India.” These kinds of exemptions are dangerous as they stand to legitimise widespread and unwarranted collection of data under the guise that such collection and processing may ultimately be useful for preventing or deterring a crime.
Security agencies will have significant authority to collect and retain any data whatsoever, as is typically the case with exemptions relating to the maintenance of sovereignty, integrity, security of the state, preservation of public order, prevention of offences, and incitement to commit offences. The law also exempts processing of personal data held outside of India. The government is also exempt from being required to delete any data that it possesses, regardless of the purpose it may have been collected for, on the request of an individual, or by way of a prescribed data retention period.
The government is not bound by purpose limitations, allowing data collected for one specified purpose be used for a new, incompatible purpose, which stands in contrast to the regulations imposed on businesses.
[Extracted, with edits and revisions from “Digital Personal Data Protection Law Raises Questions About Consistency with Right to Privacy Ruling” published in The Wire dated 22-08-2023]- CLAT - 2024
- Legal Studies
- Current Legal Affairs
- Who is the current Secretary General of the United Nations?
- TS LAWCET - 2023
- Legal Studies
- Current Legal Affairs
- Surrogacy is defined by law as “a practice whereby one woman bears and gives birth to a child for an intending couple” and intends to hand over the child to them after the birth, as per the Surrogacy (Regulation) Act, 2021 (the “SRA”). The SRA restricts altruistic surrogacy to legally wedded infertile Indian couples. The couple is deemed eligible for surrogacy only if they have been married for five years. The SRA sets an age limitation for the couple. A husband must be between 26 and 55 years of age and a wife between 23 and 50 years. Further, Indian couples with biological or adopted children are prohibited from undertaking surrogacy, save for some exceptions such as mentally or physically challenged children, or those suffering from a life-threatening disorder or fatal illness. The SRA provides that the surrogate mother has to be a close relative of the couple (such as a sibling of one of the members of the couple), a married woman with a child of her own, aged between 25 and 35 years, who has been a surrogate only once in her life. Even within this category of people, commercial surrogacy is banned in India and that includes the “commercialisation of surrogacy services or procedures or its component services or component procedures”. The surrogate woman cannot be given payments, rewards, benefits or fees, “except the medical expenses and such other prescribed expenses incurred on the surrogate mother and the insurance coverage for the surrogate mother”.
A legal commentator points out some criticisms of the law. “Permitting limited conditional surrogacy to married Indian couples and disqualifying other persons on basis of nationality, marital status, sexual orientation or age does not pass the test of equality,” he writes. He adds that reproductive autonomy, inclusive of the right to procreation and parenthood is protected under Article 21 of the Constitution of India, which guarantees the right to life and personal liberty. The intending parents typically sign a contract with the surrogate. The Indian Contract Act, 1972 (the “ICA”) provides that a valid contract has to be in writing, and signed in the presence of two witnesses. The ICA also provides that a contract that is prohibited by any other law will not be valid under the ICA.
[Extracted with edits and revisions from “What laws regulate surrogacy in India”, The Indian Express]- CLAT - 2023
- Legal Studies
- Current Legal Affairs
Questions Asked in CLAT exam
- In a language laboratory, students were given an interesting puzzle involving the word "ELECTROCARDIOGRAPH." The teacher explained that such exercises not only test logical skills but also sharpen attention to detail. According to the challenge, the word had to undergo a series of transformations. First, the class was asked to take the first half of the letters, reverse their order and make the arrangement of letters look quite different from the original. Next, the students were told to identify the last but one letter of the original word and place it at the very beginning, a step that changed the opening appearance of the sequence completely. Finally, as a finishing touch, they had to add the letter 'S' at the end. Following these steps carefully would lead them to the correct transformed word, and only those who adhered to each condition in the exact order could solve the puzzle successfully. (150 words)
- CLAT - 2026
- Coding Decoding
On the night of October 12th, the "Sunburst Medallion" was stolen from the highly secured display case in the city museum. The theft occurred sometime between the museum closing at 10:00 PM and the night guard, Mr. Hemant, completing his final round at 1:00 AM. Three primary suspects were identified, all of whom had recently been dismissed from their museum positions: Anjali, the former curator; Bharat, the former security expert; and Chitra, the former exhibits designer.
Here are the established facts and their alibis:
- The security system logs show that the display case was opened using a specific five-digit code, which only Anjali and the museum director (who was out of the country) knew.
- Bharat's alibi is that he was at a distant relative's birthday party from 8:00 PM to 1:30 AM. Multiple independent witnesses confirmed his presence throughout the entire period.
- Chitra's alibi is that she was working late at a downtown graphic design studio. A time-stamped security camera from the studio's entrance shows her entering at 7:00 PM and exiting at 11:45 PM. The studio is a 20-minute drive from the museum.
- Mr. Hemant, the night guard, stated he checked the medallion at 10:30 PM, and it was still there.
Further investigation revealed that a small, distinctive silver button was found near the display case. Anjali is known to frequently wear a coat with similar unique silver buttons. The security expert, Bharat, had previously boasted that he could remotely disable a certain type of magnetic lock—the same type used on the medallion's case—without needing the code, though the log suggests the code was used. (269 words)
- CLAT - 2026
- Assertion and Reason
In a small town lived a close-knit family where every relation could be expressed through simple symbols. For instance, when they said \( A \times B \), it meant \( A \) is the father of \( B \), while \( A \div B \) meant \( A \) is the mother of \( B \). The younger ones were often introduced with \( A + B \), meaning \( A \) was the daughter of \( B \), and the bond of brotherhood was shown by \( A - B \) (A is brother of B).
One day, the children in the family turned these symbols into a playful code. Instead of introducing their parents and siblings in words, they spoke only in symbols. “Look,” giggled little Meena, “\( M + N \div O \)!” Everyone laughed, because they knew it meant Meena was the daughter of \( N \), and \( N \) was the mother of \( O \), making her \( O \)’s sister. What started as a code soon became a family game, making the bonds of father, mother, daughter, and brother not just relations, but symbols of love and togetherness. (165 words)
- CLAT - 2026
- Blood Relations
Four teams – Red (R), Blue (B), Green (G), and Yellow (Y) – are competing in the final four rounds of the Inter-School Science Olympiad, labeled Round A, Round B, Round C, and Round D. Each round consists of one match between two teams, and every team plays exactly two matches. No team plays the same opponent more than once.
The final schedule must adhere to the following rules:
- Rule 1 (Consecutive Play): The Green team (G) must play their two matches in consecutive rounds.
- Rule 2 (Fixed Appearance): The Yellow team (Y) must play in Round B.
- Rule 3 (Positional Constraint): The Red team (R) must play against the Blue team (B) in a round that is immediately before a round in which neither R nor B is playing.
- Rule 4 (Timing): The Blue team's (B) first match must occur in an earlier round than the Green team's (G) first match.
- Rule 5 (Opponent Link): The team that plays against the Red team (R) in the round that is not against the Blue team (B), is the same team that plays in Round D.
(193 words)
- CLAT - 2026
- Seating Arrangement
Health insurance plays a vital role in ensuring financial protection and access to quality healthcare. In India, however, the extent and nature of health insurance coverage vary significantly between urban and rural areas. While urban populations often have better access to organized insurance schemes, employer-provided coverage, and awareness about health policies, rural populations face challenges such as limited outreach of insurance schemes, inadequate infrastructure, and lower awareness levels. This urban-rural divide in health insurance coverage highlights the broader issue of healthcare inequality, making it essential to analyze the factors contributing to this gap and explore strategies for more inclusive health protection. A state-level health survey was conducted.
The survey covered 1,80,000 adults across urban and rural areas. Urban residents formed 55% of the sample (that is, 99,000 people) while rural residents made up 45% (that is, 81,000 people). In each area, coverage was classified under four heads – Public schemes, Private insurance, Employer-provided coverage, and Uninsured. In urban areas, Public coverage accounted for 28% of the urban population, Private for 22%, Employer for 18%, and the remaining 32% were Uninsured. In rural areas, where formal coverage is generally lower, Public coverage stood at 35%, Private at 10%, Employer at 8%, while 47% were Uninsured.
For this survey, “Insured” includes everyone covered by Public + Private + Employer schemes, and “Uninsured” indicates those with no coverage at all. Officials noted that public schemes remain the backbone of rural coverage, while employer and private plans are relatively more prevalent in urban centres. (250 words)
- CLAT - 2026
- Ratio and Proportion