The ODISHA PUBLIC EXAMINATIONS (PREVENTION OF UNFAIR MEANS) ACT, 2024

THE ODISHA PUBLIC EXAMINATIONS       
(PREVENTION OF UNFAIR MEANS) ACT, 2024
 TABLE OF CONTENTS 
PREAMBLE : 
SECTIONS :
  CHA
PTER I 
PRELIMINARY 
1. Short title and  commencement.
 CHAPTER II 
DEFINITIONS 
2. Definitions.
  CHAPTER III 
 UNFAIR MEANS AND OFFENCES 
3. Unfair means.
4. Conspiracy  for unfair means.
5. Disruption to conduct public examination.
6. Duties of Paper Setter.
7. Other offences.
8. No premises other than examination center shall  be used for Public
Examination.
9. Punishment for offence.
CHAPTER IV 
 PUNISHMENT FOR OFFENCES 
10. Cognizable offences.
11. Punishment lot offences under this Act.
12. Organized crimes.
      CHAPTER V 
  INQUIRY AND INVESTIGATION 
13. Officers empowered to investigate.
     CHAPTER VI 
  MISCELLANEOUS 
14. Members, officers and employees of recruiting agency to be public servants.
15. Protection of action taken in good faith by any public  servant.
16. Act  to be in addition to other laws.
17. Power to make rules.
18. Power to remove difficulties.
19. THE SCHEDULE.
AN
 ACT
to prevent unfair means in the public examinations and to provide 
for matters connected therewith or incidental thereto. 
BE it enacted by the Legislature of the State of Odisha  in the 
Seventy-fifth Year of the Republic of India as follows: –– 
CHAPTER I 
PRELIMINARY 
Short title and 
commencement.
1. (1) This Act may be called the Odisha  Public Examinations
(Prevention of Unfair Means) Act, 2024.
(2) It shall come into force on such date as the State Government
may, by notification in the Official Gazette, appoint
CHAPTER II 
DEFINITIONS 
Definitions. 2. (1) In this Act, unless the context otherwise requires, ––
(a) “candidate” means a person who has been granted 
permission by the public examination authority to appear in 
public examination and includes a person authorized to act as 
THE ODISHA PUBLIC EXAMINATIONS (PREVENTION 
OF UNFAIR MEANS) ACT, 2024
 EXTRAORDINARY 
PUBLISHED BY AUTHORITY 
No.394, CUTTACK,  WEDNESDAY,  FEBRUARY  12,  2025 / MAGHA  23, 1946
LAW DEPARTMENT 
NOTIFICATION 
The 12th February, 2025
No.2318-I-Legis-22/2024/L - The following Act of the Odisha Legislative Assembly 
having been assented to by the Governor  on the 3rd day of February, 2025 is 
hereby publish for general information.
ODISHA ACT 1 OF 2025
2 
a scribe on his behalf in the public examination; 
(b) “Communication device” shall have the same meaning 
assigned to it in   clause (ha) of sub-section (1) of Section 2 of
the Information Technology Act, 2000; 
(c) “Computer network”, “computer resource” and “computer 
system” shall have the meanings respectively assign ed to 
them in clauses (j), (k) and (l)  of sub-section (1) of Section 2
of the Information Technology Act, 2000; 
(d) “Conduct of public examination” shall include all the 
procedures, processes and activities, as may be prescribed, 
for being adopted for the conduct of public examination; 
(e)  “Institution” means any agency, organization, body, 
association of persons, business entity, company, partnership 
or single proprietorship firm, by whatever name it may be 
called, which is other than the public examination auth ority 
and the service provider engaged by such authority;. 
Explanation.—For the purposes of this clause, it
is clarified that  “company” includes a company as defined 
in clause (20) of Section 2 of the Companies Act, 2013; or a
limited liability partnership firm as defined in clause (n) of 
sub-section (1) of Section 2 of the Limited Liability
Partnership Act, 2008; 
(f) “notification” means a notification published in the Official 
Gazette and the expression “notify” shall be construed 
accordingly; 
(g) “Organized crime” means an unlawful activity committed by a 
person or a group of persons indulging in unfair means in 
collusion and conspiracy to pursue or promote a shared 
interest for wrongful gain in respect of a public examination; 
(h) “Person associated with a servi ce provider” means a person 
who performs services for or on behalf of such service 
provider irrespective of whether such person is an employee 
or an agent or a subsidiary of such service provider, as the 
case may be; 
(i) “Paper setter” means any person or enti ty appointed by the 
public examination authority for preparation of questions or 
question bank or question paper; 
(j) “prescribed” means prescribed by rules made under this Act; 
21 of 2000. 
21 of 2000. 
18 of 2013. 
7 of  2009.
3 
(k) “Public examination” means any examination conducted by 
the public examination aut hority, or conducted by such other 
authority as may be notified by the State Government; 
(l) “Public examination authority” means the Odisha Public 
Service Commission, Odisha Staff Selection Commission, 
Odisha Subordinate Staff Selection Commission, Service 
Selection Board, Odisha Police Selection Board, State 
Selection Board constituted under the Odisha Education 
(Selection Board for the State)Rules,1992, Odisha Joint 
Entrance Examination, regulated by the Odisha Professional 
Educational Institution (Regulatio n of Admission and Fixation 
of Fee) Act, 2007,  Departments of the State Government and 
their attached and subordinate offices for recruitment of staff, 
Selection Agencies / Committees engaged or constituted by 
the State Government, and all such other auth ority as may be 
notified by the State Government from time to time, for 
conducting public examination or any Examination Authority 
as specified in Schedule; 
(m) “Public examination center” means such premises, which is 
selected by the service provider or other wise selected by the 
public examination authority, to be used for conduct of public 
examination and which, amongst others, may include any 
school, computer center, institution, any building or part 
thereof and the same shall include the entire periphery an d 
land appurtenant thereto which may be used for security and 
Other related reasons for conduct of the public examinations;  
(n) “Service provider” means any agency, organization, body, 
association of persons, business entity, company, partnership 
or single  proprietorship firm, including its associates, sub -
contractors and provider of support of any computer resource 
or any material, by whatever name it may be called, which is 
engaged by the public examination authority fo r conduct of 
public examination; 
(o) “Schedule” means schedule appended to this Act. 
(2) Words and expressions used herein but not defined and 
defined under any other law for the time being in force, shall 
have the same meanings as assigned to them in those laws. 
4 
CHAPTER III  
UNFAIR MEANS AND OFFENCES 
Unfair means. 3. The unfair means relating to the conduct of a public
examination shall include any act or omission done or caused
to be done by any person or group of persons or institutions,
and include but not be restricted to, any of the following acts
for monetary or wrongful gain—
(a) leakage of question paper or answer key or part  
thereof ; 
(b) participating in collusion with others to effec t leakage 
of question paper or answer key ; 
(c) accessing or taking possession of question paper or an 
Optical Mark Recognition response sheet without 
authority ; 
(d) providing solution to one or more questions by any 
unauthorized person during a public examination ; 
(e) directly or indirectly assisting the candidate in any 
manner unauthorizedly in the public examination ; 
(f) tampering with answer sheets including Optical Mark 
Recognition response sheets ; 
(g) altering the assessment except to correct a bona fide 
error without any authority ; 
(h) willful violation of norms or standards set up by the 
State Government for conduct of a public examination 
on its own or through its agency ; 
(i) tampering with any document necessary for short -
listing of candidates or finalising  the merit or rank of a 
candidate in a public examination ; 
(j) deliberate violation of security measures to facilitate 
unfair means in conduct of a public examination ; 
(k) tampering with the computer network or a computer 
resource or a computer system ; 
(l) manipulation in seating arrangements, allocation of 
dates and shifts for the candidates to facilitate adopting 
unfair means in examinations ; 
(m) threatening the life, liberty or wrongfully restraining 
persons associated with the public examination 
5 
Conspiracy for 
unfair means. 
Disruption to 
conduct public 
examination. 
Duties of  Paper 
Setter. 
authority or the se rvice provider or any authorized 
agency of the Government; or obstructing the conduct 
of a public examination ; 
(n) creation of fake website to cheat or for monetary gain; 
and 
(o) conduct of fake examination, issuance of fake admit 
cards or offer letters to cheat or for monetary gain. 
4. No person or group of persons or institutions shall collude
or conspire to facilitate indulgence in any such unfair
means.
5. (1) No person, who is not entrusted or engaged with the
work pertaining to the public examination or conduct o f
public examination or who is not a candidate, shall enter the
premises of the examination center, with intent to disrupt
the conduct of the public examination.
(2) No person authorized, engaged or entrusted with the
duties to conduct public examination s hall, before the time
fixed for opening and distribution of question papers:
(a) Open, leak or possess or access or solve or 
seek assistance to solve such question paper 
or any portion or a copy thereof in 
unauthorized manner for monetary or wrongful 
gain; 
(b) Give any confidential information or promise to 
give such confidential information to any 
person, where such confidential information is 
related to or in reference to such question 
paper for monetary or wrongful gain. 
(3) No person, who is entrusted or engaged with any work 
pertaining to public examination shall, except where he is 
authorized in furtherance of his duties so to do, reveal or 
cause to be revealed or make known to any other person 
any information or part thereof which has come to his 
knowledge for any undue advantage or wrongful gain. 
6. Any person who is appointed as a paper setter for any
examination shall not supply or cause to be supplied the
question paper drawn by him or a copy thereof or
6 
Other offences. 
No premises other 
than examination 
center shall be 
used for Public 
Examination. 
Punishment for 
offences. 
communicate the contents of such paper to any person or 
give publicity thereto in any manner, except in accordance 
with the instructions given to him in writing by his appointing 
public examination authority in this behalf. 
7. If any person or group of persons or institution commits any
unfair means or offence under sections 3, 4,  5 and section 6,
the public examination authority or the service provider shall
forthwith report the offence to the concerned police
authorities and in case the service provider reports the
offence to the police authorities shall also info rm the public
examination authority:
     Provided that if the service provider resorts to unfair 
means and commits the offence or is involved in facilitating an 
offence, the public examination authority shall report the same 
to the concerned police authorities. 
8. It shall be an offence for the service provider or any person
associated with the service provider to cause any premises,
other than the examination center, authorized by the public
examination authority, to be alternatively used for the purpose
of holding public examination, without the written approval of
the public examination authority:
     Provided that nothing contained in this section shall be 
an offence where any change in the examination center 
without prior consent of the public examination authority is due 
to any force majeure. 
9. (1) Any person, including the person associated with a
service provider, shall be deemed to have committed an
offence if he individually or in collusion with any other person
or group of persons or instit utions assists any person or
group of persons or institutions in any manner unauthorizedly
in the conduct of public examination.
(2) Service provider or any person associated with it shall be 
deemed to have committed an offence if he fails to report 
incidence of any unfair means or commission of any offence. 
(3) Where an offence committed by a service provider is, 
prima facie, established during investigation to have been 
committed with the consent or connivance of any director, 
manager, secretary or other officer of such service provider, 
7 
such person shall also be liable to be proceeded against: 
     Provided that nothing contained in this sub -section shall 
render any such person liable to any punishment under the 
Act, if he proves, that the offence wa s committed without his 
knowledge and that he exercised all due diligence to Prevent 
the commission of such offence. 
Cognizable 
offences. 
Punishment for 
offences under 
this Act. 
CHAPTER IV 
PUNISHMENT FOR OFFENCES 
10. All offences under this Act, shall be cognizable, non -bailable
and non-compoundable. 
11. (1) 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 ten lakh rupees. In case of
default of payment of fine, an additional punishment of
imprisonment shall be imposed, as per the provisions of the
Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023:
(2) The service provider shall also be liable to be punished
with imposition of a fine up to one crore rupees and
proportionate cost of examination shall also be recovered
from such service provider and he shall also be barred from
being assigned with any  responsibility for the conduct of any
public examination for a period of four years.
(3) Where it is established during the investigation that
offence under this Act has been committed with the consent
or connivance of any Director, Senior Management or t he
persons in -charge of the service provider firm, he shall be
liable for imprisonment for a term not less than three years
but which may extend to ten years and with fine of one crore
rupees. In case of default of payment of fine, an additional
punishment of imprisonment shall be imposed as per the
provisions of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023:
(4) Nothing contained in this section shall render any such
person liable to any punishment under the Act, if he proves,
that the offence was committed without hi s knowledge and
that he exercised all due diligence to prevent the commission
of such offence.
45 of  2023. 
45 of  2023. 
8 
Organized 
crimes. 12. (1) If a person or a group of persons including the
examination authority  or service provider or any other 
institution commits an organized crime, he shall be punished 
with imprisonment for a term not less than five years but 
which may extend to ten years and with fine which shall not 
be less than one crore rupees. In case of default of payment 
of fine, an additional punishment of imprisonment shall be 
imposed as per the provisions of the Bharatiya Nyaya 
Sanhita, 2023. 
 (2) If an institution is involved in committing an organized 
crime, its property shall be subjected to attachment and 
forfeiture and proportionate cost of examination shall also be 
recovered from it. 
45 of  2023
CHAPTER V 
INQUIRY AND INVESTIGATION 
Officers 
empowered to 
investigate. 
13. (1) An officer not below the rank of Deputy Superintendent of
Police or Assistant Commissioner of Police shall 
investigate any offence under this Act. 
(2) Notwithstanding anything contained in sub -section (1), the 
State Government shall have the powers to refer the 
investigation to any State Investigating Agency.  
CHAPTER VI 
MISCELLANEOUS 
Members, 
officers and 
employees of 
recruiting 
agency to be 
public 
servants. 
Protection of 
action taken in 
good faith by  
any public 
servant. 
14. The Chairperson, Members, officers and other employees
of the public examination authority shall be deemed, when
acting or purporting to act in pursuance of any of the
provisions of this Act, to be public servants w ithin the
meaning of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023:
15. No suit, prosecution or other legal proceedings under this
Act, shall lie against any public servant, in respect of
anything which is done in good faith or intended to be done
in the discharge of his official functions or in exercise of his
powers:
     Provided that the public servants in the service of any 
public examination authority shall be subject to 
administrative action in terms of service rules of such public 
45 of 2023
examination authority:
9 
Act to be in 
addition to other 
laws. 
Power to make 
rules. 
Power to remove 
difficulties. 
     Provided further that nothing shall prevent proceeding 
against such public servants where, prima facie case exists 
for establishing commission of an offence under this Act. 
16. The provisions of this Act shall be in addition to, and not in
derogation of, any other law for the time being in force:
     Provided that the provisions of this Act shall have 
effect notwithstanding anything inconsistent therewith 
contained in any other law for the time being in force or any 
instrument having effect by virtue of any such law in force. 
17. (1) The State Government may, by notification in the
Official Gazette, make rules to carry out the provisions of
this Act.
(2)  In particular, and without prejudice to the generality of
the foregoing power, such rules ma y provide for all or any
of the following matters, namely:
(a) To lay down procedures, processes and activities for
being adopted for conduct of the public examination.
(b) Any other matter which is to be or may be prescribed.
18. (1) If any difficulty arises in g iving effect to the provisions
of this Act, the State Government may, by order, published
in the Official Gazette, make such provisions within three
years, not inconsistent with the provisions of this Act, as
appear to it to be necessary for removal of difficulty.
(2) Every order made under sub -section (1) shall be laid,
as soon as may be, after it is made before the State
Legislative Assembly.
10 
THE SCHEDULE 
[See section 2 (1) (l) and (o)] 
ANY EXAMINATION CONDUCTED BY— 
1. Odisha Public Service Commission.
2. Odisha Staff Selection Commission.
3. Odisha Sub-ordinate Staff Selection Commission.
4. Service Selection Board.
5. Odisha Police Selection Board.
6. State Selection Board constituted under the Odisha Education
(Selection Board for the State) Rules, 1992.
7. Odisha Joint Entrance Examination, regulated by the Odisha
Professional Educational Institution (Regulation of Admission
and Fixation of Fee) Act, 2007.
8. Departments of the State Government and their attached and
sub-ordinate offices for recruitment of staff, and
9. All such other authority as may be notified by the State
Government.
By Order of the Governor          
 MANAS RANJAN BARIK  
 Principal Secretary to Government  
_______
Printed and Published by the Director, Printing, Stationery and Publication, Odisha, Cuttack-10
OGP/SBP Ex.Gaz.2180-183+180

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