Chief minister Devendra Fadnavis on Tuesday instructed that the police and municipal commissioners would be responsible for ensuring copying did not take place during the Std X and XII exams in urban areas while the district collector, superintendent of police and chief executive officer would share this responsibility in the rest of the state.

Fadnavis, who heads the home department, was addressing a meeting to review preparations to ensure a copying-free environment during the exams. The chief minister stated that Section 163 of the Indian Civil Protection Code should be enforced around exam centres, prohibiting unauthorised persons within 100 metres of them. He added that teachers and staff caught helping students copy would be dismissed from service. “Centres will permanently lose their recognition if mass copying cases are observed on their respective premises,” a statement issued by the publicity department of the chief minister’s office mentioned.