Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s promise of fast-track courts for paper-leak cases is an acknowledgement that India’s examination crisis can no longer be answered with arrests and assurances alone. Swift trials are desirable. But speed in court addresses only the final stretch of a much longer journey to justice. If investigations are flawed or prosecutions falter, a faster trial may merely deliver failure sooner. The record warrants such caution. The NEET-UG paper leak of 2024 led to an extensive CBI investigation and multiple charge sheets involving dozens of accused.

Yet, two years later, the case has not produced final judicial accountability. An alleged key conspirator secured statutory bail after investigators failed to file a charge sheet against him within the prescribed period. Such a lapse cannot be attributed to judicial delay. Other examination scandals reveal an even deeper malaise. In the Karnataka pre-university chemistry paper leak case of 2016, all 19 accused were eventually acquitted after serious deficiencies emerged in the investigation.

A fast-track court cannot manufacture evidence, repair a botched investigation or cure a defective prosecution. Effective deterrence........

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