Student: Student who used unfair means gets second chance in exam

Mumbai: In an interim relief granted to a second-year computer science student who had adopted unfair methods in his two-semester exams, the Bombay High Court has allowed him to appear for a fresh fourth-year exam semester. Its result will depend on the result of its query. “Prima facie, it appears to us that there has been a violation of the principles of natural justice… as the penalty imposed exceeds the penalty indicated in the show cause notice,” Justices KR Shriram and Jitendra Jain. NMIMS School of Management and Technology Engineering student Mukesh Patel, through his lawyer Arshil Shah, challenged the May 9 order that canceled his performance in the fourth semester exam and him prohibited from taking a new exam for using unfair means on two occasions. In November, he was caught copying with his smartwatch during third semester exams. In April, during the fourth semester exam, his ID card with numbers written in pencil was found with another student. Senior advocate Girish Godbole of NMIMS cited a guideline to students regarding non-compliance with passing criteria and said the student cannot rely on it to appear for the re-examination. The judges declared that he was allowed to appear for the third semester re-examination. Additionally, in the event of a cancellation, the guidelines do not specify that a student will not be allowed to appear for the end-of-semester re-examination. The judges said, prima facie, that with the fourth semester exams cancelled, “the student should be considered not to have met the passing criteria” and should be allowed to sit for a re-exam. They noted that the punishment was excessive and the show cause notice also did not mention that the student would not be allowed to appear for the re-examination. The judges accepted the student’s undertaking never to commit malpractice in examinations in the future and, if he repeated himself, “his undertaking at the time of admission… may be enforced”.

We have also recently published the following articles

Only 813 of 1,563 granted pardons take NEET-UG re-examination

Amid the chaos caused by the postponement of NEET-UG exams, candidates faced immense challenges, with some traveling long distances and spending large sums of money. The lack of clarity and repeated changes in exam dates have led to frustration and distress among candidates, highlighting the need for better communication and organization during such crucial exams.