Madhya Pradesh High Court
Kumari Anjali Saxena vs The Chairman, Professional ... on 25 August, 1989
Equivalent citations: AIR1990MP253, 1990(0)MPLJ80, AIR 1990 MADHYA PRADESH 253
JUDGMENT B.C. Varma, J.
1. The order in [his petition shall also govern the disposal of Misc. Petition No. 2581 of 1989. The petitioners in both these petitions appeared at the combined Entrance Test Examination, conducted, by the Professional Examination Board, an the medical group, for admission to the first year M.B.B.S. course. Petitioner, Ku. Anjali Saxena, also in the alternative sought admission to B.D.S. (Bachelor pf. Dental Surgery) course. Both were not found to be successful competitors for admission to the M.B.B.S. course. However, Ku. Anjali Saxena qualified for admission to B.D.S. course and has since been admitted accordingly.
2. After the results of the Pre-Medical Test examination (PMT) were declared on 9/10-7-1988, certain number of candidates, including the petitioner, Ku. Anjali Saxena, applied for revaluation, as is permissible under the rules. The result of Ku. Anjali Saxena was found to be in order. Some students, however, were benefited as a result of revaluation and marks obtained by them earlier were increased considerably. Ku. Anjali Saxena got 739 marks. Initially, the last person admitted to M.B.B.S. course obtained 752 marks. Subsequently, those getting 744 marks have been admitted.
3. Ku. Anjali Saxena, in her petition, alleges that the model answers prepared by the Board to questions No. 31, 56 and 68 of 'B' series in subject-Botany were wrong. Instead, her suggestion is that the answers given by her were correct and if that is so held, she would be getting an increase of 4 marks for each question. There will be thus a total increase of 12 marks. In that event, according to her, she would in all be getting 751 marks and should be preferred for admission to those who got lesser marks and have been admitted. The petitioner, Ku. Jyoti, in the connected petition No. 2581 of 1989, similarly challenges the correctness of the model answer to question No. 79 in the same paper. According to her, the answer given by her is correct, and in that event, adding 4 marks to the marks already obtained by her, at present, she gets 741 marks and in the event of her answer to question No. 79 being taken as correct, her total marks would be 745. She would then be entitled to admission in preference to the one, who has been admitted on getting 744 marks.
4. Replying to the contention that persons getting lesser marks have been admitted in preference to the petitioners, Shri Saxena, Learned Addt. Advocate General, pointed out that in cases of 18 candidates, who had applied for revaluation of their marks, it was found that the computers were incorrectly fed. On re-examination, the mistake was detected when the tabulation sheets were referred to and a correct mark sheet was then prepared. Finally, the correct mark sheets were taken into account in respect of those candidates alone. We have no reason to disbelieve this statement made on oath in the return. If these revised mark sheets are taken into account the contention that persons getting lesser marks than the petitioners have been preferred for admission to M.B.B.S. course, must be rejected. We, therefore, do not accept this contention.
5. Coming now to the question of correctness of the answers to the various questions, we may usefully refer to the scheme of the examination. The pattern of examination is what is called 'multiple choice of objective type test'. A number of questions are set and 4 alternative answers are indicated against each question. A committee of three experts in the subject concerned is appointed to choose the correct answer to each question. This correct answer is called 'key answer'. The committee then meets and after due deliberations, sorts out the correct answers (key answers), which are then kept in a sealed cover to be opened at the time of valuation of the question papers. Thus, all care is ensured while choosing the key answer to a given question. This key answer selected, by the committee has to be accepted, as the correct answer for the purpose of valuation, unless it is shown to be entirely incorrect. The other three answers by some process of reasoning may also be shown as the possible answers to the question and those may hot be wholly incorrect. Nevertheless, under the scheme of the examination, the key answer cannot be rejected, unless it is shown to be entirely incorrect. The examinee is required to indicate by some sign or mark the correct answer. For each correct answer the examinee gets 3 marks and loses one for incorrect marking.
6. What happens when the correctness of this key answer is questioned? The matter came for consideration by the Supreme Court in Kanpur University v. Samir Gupta, AIR 1983 SC 1230, It was held that the key answer should be1 assumed to be correct, unless it is proved to be wrong and that it should not be held to be wrong by an inferential process of reasoning or by a process of rationalisation. The Court further observed that the key answer must be clearly demostrated to be wrong, that is to say, it must be such as no reasonable body of men well-versed in the particular subject would regard it as correct. In case of doubt, the key answer has to be preferred. When the key answer is shown to be incorrect beyond the realm of doubt that it should be rejected, in that event alone, the examinee cannot be penalised, for not, giving an answer which accords with the tkey answer. This, decision was followed by a Division Bench of the Allahabad, High Court in the case of Pankaj Bhalla v. Rohilkhand University, Bareilly, 1989 All LJ 801. Another Division Bench of the Allahabad High Court (Lucknow Bench), in Krishna Kumar Roy v. State of U.P., Writ. Petn. No. 3108 of 1980, decided, on 17-12-1980 : (reported in AIR 1981 All 287), held that the Couit should not lightly interfere with the opinion expessed by academic experts but may, interfere only where the expert takes a view which no reasonable person could possibly take. The correctness or otherwise of the key answer, therefore, be based upon the touch stone of the decision in Samir Gupta's case (supra).
7. We may now proceed to examine the correctness of the key answers to questions Nos. 31, 56 and 68 in Botany paper of B series (M.P. No. 3990/1988) and question No. 79 (zoology) in M.P. No. 2581 of 1989 Question No. 31 reads thus :--
"Q. In a true ecosystem the pyramid of number is always :--
A. Upright.
B. Inverted.
C. Both A and B. D. Neither A nor B".
The key answer to this question is A, while Ku. Anjali Saxena ticked C as the correct answer. The petitioner has annexed certain opinions of experts. According to one of such opinions the correct answer is 'Pyramid of Numbers'. From the point of view of numbers, if pyramids are drawn for grassland, forest and pond ecosystems, the pyramids will always be upright. In a grassland ecosystem the number of grasses is always the highest, this is followed by the number of primary consumers (herbivores) like rabbit and mice, etc. which are lesser in number than the grasses, the secondary consumers like snakes and lizards are still less in number than rabbits and mice. Finally, the top consumers like hawks are least in number. Explaining the correctness of the key answer, the respondents have relied on the book 'Fundamentals of Botany' by Bilgrami, where at page 290, under the heading 'Pyramid of numbers' the following view is expressed :--
"From the point of view of numbers, if pyramids are drawn for grassland, forest and pond ecosystems, the pyramids will always be upright."
A reference has also been made by the respondents to the syllabus prescribed for the test. According to the syllabus, the natural ecosystems are grassland, forest and pond ecosystems. Thus, in view of this syllabus, the key answer chosen cannot be said to be wrong and it cannot, therefore, be said that no reasonable man can regard this answer as correct. That being so, it has to be held that key answer to this question is the correct answer and the petitioner ticked a wrong answer.
8. Question No. 56. This question is as follows :--
"Crop rotation kills.
A. Soil inhabiters. B. Soil minerals. C. Host. D. None of these."
The key answer to this question is shown as D, while Ku. Anjali Saxena ticked A 'soil inhabiters', as the correct answer. Ku. Anjali Saxena, in her bid to demostrate her answer as a correct one, relies on the book 'College Botany' by Dr. V. D. Tyagi, 'Microbiology' by pelezar, Reid and Clan. The reasoning is that the crop rotation is the method used to eradicate the pathogens, which depends on host. So, when the crop rotation is done, the host is removed and the pathogen is killed. As against this, it is explained by the respondents i.e. those organisms which inhabit the soil, By crop rotation, only a small fraction of soil inhabiters, viz. pathogens and that too only obligate ones may be killed. All soil inhabitors are not pathogens. The explanation and the reason offered by the respondents to demonstrate that the key answer is correct also finds support from the text book 'College Botany' by Dr. V. D. Tyagi, relied upon by the petitioner. It also indicates that sowing the crop by rotation in fields infested with soil borne pathogens of that particular crop, can be an effective control measure. We are of the opinion that like key answer to question No. 31, the key answer to this question could not be demostrated to be wrong.
9. Question No. 68.
"Q. Ever green trees remain green on account of--
A. Absence of leaf fall. B. Cold climate.
C. Leaves fall in small numbers at intervals. D. Supply of moisture throughout the year."
'C' is the key answer, while 'D' has been ticked as the correct answer by Ku. Anjali Saxena. To support her stand, she relies upon the book 'Forest and Forestry' written by K. P. Sagreiya and Introductory Plant Physiology by G. Ray Noggle and George J. Fritz. Her reasoning is that all the physiological activities of plant are directly or indirectly related to water supply. The leaves remain attached to the stem on account of tyrgidity inside the Cell'. When there is no water available, then dedication takes place and the leaves fall. Thus, the first and foremost reason for maintenance of greenary of plants is the supply of water. As against this, the respondents have annexed to their return opinion of three experts in the subject. These experts expressed their opinion with reference to the formation of this question. According to them, fall of leaves is structurally related with the formation of abscission layer. The physiological reason for the formation of this layer is cold climate, moisture content, shorter light period, transfer of waste products to the leaf and decrease in the production of growth harmone. Since what is asked is the reason for the ever green trees to remain green and not the cause of leaf fall, according to these experts, the reasons for ever green trees to remain green, are as follows :--
"(1) That the leaves of deciduous plants fall off from the branches which bear them, at the end of growing season in contact to those of ever greens in which the leaves persist for several seasons often 4 to 5 years or longer. (2) That the leaf fall takes place both in deciduous and evergreen trees. Difference between these types of trees lies chiefly in the time and extent of their leaf shedding. (3) That the deciduous trees shed their leaves at the approach of winter and ever green trees have no fixed time or season for fall of leaves."
Thus, according to them, ever green trees do not retain the same leaves always but shed them periodically in small number to be replaced by new leaves. That is the reason why they continue to remain green. The respondents have thus justified the answer at C to be the correct answer. The petitioner could not show by reference to any text book or even by process of reasoning that the key answer cannot be said to be correct.
10. We now come to question No. 79, which is the subject-matter of M.P. No. 2581 of 1989. That question is :
"Q. The pigmented layer in the eye is :
A. Scle-rotic, B. Retina. C. Choroid. D. Cornea."
The petitioner Ku. Jyoti Khakaria ticked A as the correct answer, while, according to the respondents, the key answer is C, i.e., Choroid. Ku. Jyoti Khakaria has annexed document P-10 to her petition, the opinion expressed by E. L. Jordan and H. C. Nigam in their book 'Anima! Biology', 1985 Edition. She has also relied upon and exhibited the opinion of Professor S. C. Pathak, which is based upon the various text books, relied by the petitioner, as mentioned above. Professor Pathak does not negative the correctness of the key answer. All that he says is that in his opinion, the answer at B 'should also be considered correct' as this layer also contains pigmented sub-layer on the inner surface and pigments contained in the rods and cones present in the retina. This opinion of Dr. Pathak was placed before the committee of experts. According to the expert committee the retina is usually described as having ten layers. Out of them, only two layers are pigmented, i.e. the layer of rods and cones, whereas the 8 layers, which form the retina are not pigmented. Their opinion is that choroid layer is fully pigmented. The choice, therefore, would fall on 'C' (choroid) as the correct answer. We are, therefore, of the opinion that in view of the expert opinion, as collected and based on record, the key answer is the correct answer and the petitioner Ku. Jyoti Khakaria is not right in saying that the answer B (retina) is the correct answer.
11. For the aforesaid reasons, we are of the opinion that none of the petitioners in the two petitions could demostrate that the key answers to the questions, referred to by them in their respective petition and as referred to above, are incorrect, i.e., they are such that no reasonable body well-versed in a particular subject, would regard it as correct. It may be that the answers ticked as correct by them may not be wholly wrong or may even be closely correct to the key answer, but then, as we have pointed out above, unless the key answer is demostrated to be 'wrong', the key answer should be accepted as the correct answer.
12. We accordingly dismiss both the petitions. There shall be no order as to costs. The security amount, if any, be refunded to the petitioners.