THE KARNATAKA EDUCATION (AMENDMENT) ACT, 2017
KARNATAKA ACT NO. 18 OF 2017
(First Published in the Karnataka Gazette Extra-ordinary on the Sixth day of April, 2017)
(Received the assent of the Governor on the Third day of April, 2017)
An Act further to amend the Karnataka Education Act, 1983 Whereas it is expedient further to amend the Karnataka Education Act, 1983 (Karnataka Act 1 of 1995) for the purposes hereinafter appearing;
Be it enacted by the Karnataka State Legislature in the sixty eighth year of the Republic of India, as follows:-
1. Short title and commencement.- (1) This Act may be called the Karnataka Education (Amendment) Act, 2017.
(2) It shall come into force at once.
2. Amendment of section 21.- In the Karnataka Education Act, 1983 (Karnataka Act 1 of 1995) (hereafter referred to as the principal Act), in section 21,-
(i) clause (a) shall be renumbered as clause (aa) and before clause (aa) as so renumbered, the following clause shall be inserted, namely:-
“(a) “answer script” in relation to any examination means material or medium supplied or facilitated by the competent authority for the candidates to record their answers in the manner prescribed, and such material or medium either before or after recording of the answers by the candidates shall be property of the competent authority.”
(ii) for clause (b), the following shall be substituted, namely:-
“(b) “examination” means an examination for the time being specified in the Schedule II and such other examinations as may be notified by the State Government in the Official Gazette and includes practical examination, and includes question paper setting and printing, custody and transportation of question papers and answer scripts, invigilation, evaluation, tabulation, publication of results and all other matters connected therewith.”
(iii) for clause (d), the following shall be substituted, namely:-
“(d) "malpractice" in relation to any examination means any illegal or unauthorized act committed by a person individually or in collusion with any other person before, during or after examination hours by taking or giving or attempting to take or give any help from or to any person or from any material, written, recorded, typed, photographed or printed or transmitted from any person, in any form whatsoever in order to obtain undeserved marks or grades or to place one or more candidates at an unfair advantage or disadvantage.
(e) “Question paper” in relation to any examination means a set of questions related with specified topics of prescribed syllabus and intended to be used at any examination, and which shall be property of the competent authority.”
3. Amendment of section 23.- In section 23 of the principal Act, after clause (c), the following shall be inserted, namely:-
“(d) who is entrusted with evaluation of answer scripts or supervision of the evaluation shall intentionally or knowingly carry out the evaluation or supervision in contravention of the scheme of evaluation specified by the competent authority.
(e) who is entrusted with custody and transportation of answer scripts shall intentionally or knowingly cause or facilitate damage or unauthorized access to or tampering of the answer scripts.”
4. Insertion of new section 24A.- After section 24 of the principal Act, the following shall be inserted, namely:-
“24A. Prohibition of leakage of question paper.- No person shall, during or after question paper setting, printing of question paper, custody and transportation of question papers either before or during examination cause leakage of question paper or indulge in malpractice by,-
(i) buying, selling or procuring or attempting to do so or otherwise dealing with any question paper intended for use at any examination; or
(ii) possessing or procuring or inducing any other person to deliver him or any other person any question paper or attempting to do so intended for use at any examination.
Explanation.- For the purpose of this clause “Leakage of a question paper” includes any of the following process carried out or attempting to carry out without approval of the competent authority, namely:-
(a) Printing;
(b) Photocopying;
(c) Photographing;
(d) Writing by hand or in brail form; or
(e) Communicating, sending or transmitting any text, video, audio or image through any communication device or computer network as defined in the Information Technology Act, 2000 (Central Act 21 of 2000)."
5. Substitution of section 115.- For section 115 of the principal Act, the following shall be substituted, namely:-
"115. Penalty for contravention of section 23.- Any person who contravenes the provisions of section 23 shall on conviction, be punished with imprisonment for a term which may extend to six months and with a fine which may extend to one lakh rupees.
115A. Penalty for contravention of section 24A.- Any person who
contravenes the provisions of section 24A shall on conviction, be punished with imprisonment for a term of minimum three years for first offence and minimum five years for second or subsequent offence and with a minimum fine of five lakhs rupees in either instance."
6. Amendment of section 118.- In section 118 of the principal Act, for the words "five thousand rupees but not less than one hundred rupees", the words "ten thousand rupees" shall be substituted.
7. Insertion of new section 121A.- After section 121 of the principal Act, the following shall be inserted, namely:-
“121A. Power of the Board or Department or Authority.-Notwithstanding anything contained in this Act, Board or Department or Competent Authority conducting examination shall have the power to,-
(i) Withhold, suspend or cancel the result of a candidate or debar a candidate from taking its examination for up to three years if it is satisfied that the candidate has engaged in leakage of question paper or mass copying after giving the candidate an opportunity of being heard;
(ii) recommend for suspension or withdrawal of recognition of an educational institution or an examination centre for upto three years, if it is satisfied that the educational institution or the examination centre is involved in leakage of question paper or mass copying after giving the concerned educational institution or the examination centre an opportunity of being heard."
8. Amendment of section 122.- In section 122 of the principal Act, for the words "one thousand rupees", the words "ten thousand rupees" shall be substituted.
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