India Prime Minister Narendra Modi has announced fast-track courts to ensure justice in paper leak cases.

The Prime Minister’s announcement comes amid the raging protests across the nation led by Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) and backed by Opposition parties like Aam Aadmi Party, Congress, and Shiv Sena (UBT), among others.

This is the first time that the Prime Minister has made any remarks on the issue after the July 20 Sansad March by the CJP.

“Nothing is more important than the welfare and future of our youth! We have decided to set up fast-track courts to ensure swift and stringent punishment for those involved in paper leaks. Have directed the concerned authorities and officials to take all necessary steps in this regard. This continues our series of steps for safeguarding the interests of students. Those who try to harm the future of our youth will not be spared,” he said in an X post.

The CJP is demanding the resignation of Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan, seeking fixing of accountability for the NEET paper leaks earlier. The protests in Delhi took a violent turn when CJP tried to march to Parliament on July 20.

Following the PM’s announcement, the CJP issued a four-word response: “Dharmendra Pradhan Must Resign”.

Investigation on paper leaks

Last month, The Indian Express published an investigation on the status of cases linked to 45 major exam paper leaks over the past two decades, in which each exam had at least 1 lakh applicants or candidates.

The findings were stark: Only two of these cases led to convictions. Most of the rest were trapped in legal quicksand or had simply hit a dead end.