HC allows a student who used unfair means to retake the 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 inasmuch as the penalty imposed exceeds the penalty specified in the notice of demand,” Justices KR Shriram and Jitendra Jain said on Wednesday.

The student of Mukesh Patel School of Technology Management and Engineering, NMIMS, through his lawyer Arshil Shah, challenged the May 9 order that cancelled his fourth semester examination results and barred him from appearing for the re-examination for using unfair means twice.

On November 25, he was caught copying with his smart watch during the third semester exam. His exams were canceled. He appeared again for the third semester exams in January/February. During the fourth semester exam on April 27, his ID card with numbers written in pencil was found with another student. After issuing a show cause notice on April 29, the student was informed on May 9 that his exam was canceled and he would not be allowed to appear for the supplementary exams as he had used unfair means on two occasions.

Senior advocate Girish Godbole, of NMIMS, said that during his admission in September 2022, the student had given an undertaking that if he adopted any unfair means during his programme, his admission would be canceled and all fees paid would be forfeited. He referred to the 2022 student guidelines that if a student is caught cheating in an exam a second time, he or she will face harsher punishment which can be up to double the punishment.

Godbole cited a directive to students regarding non-compliance with passing criteria and said the student could not rely on it to appear for the make-up exam. The judges disagreed and said the student was allowed to sit for the third semester make-up exam. Additionally, in the event of a cancellation, the guidelines do not provide that a student will not be permitted to sit for the end-of-semester make-up exam. The judges said, prima facie, that with the cancellation of the fourth semester exams, “the student should be considered not to have met the passing criteria” and should be allowed to sit for the exam. catch up exam.

They noted that “the penalty imposed exceeds what was indicated in the show cause notice” and that the notice did not mention that the student would not be allowed to appear for the re-examination. “In our view, the penalty threatened in the show cause notice has already been imposed by cancelling the final examination of the fourth semester,” they added.

The judges accepted the student’s commitment to never commit fraud during the exam and, in the event of a repeat offense, “his commitment at the time of admission… may be applied.” They published the application for admission on July 26.