Document Fragment View

Matching Fragments

Feeling aggrieved of respondents refusal to re-evaluate his answer scripts in subjects of Accounting and Financial Management Course No. CS-401 and Translator Design Course No. CS-403 of IVth Semester Examination of Masters in Computer Applications (MCA) Course, petitioner has filed writ petition on hand claiming following relief(s):

(i) Certiorari for quashing 1-(B) in II Statute governing the re-evaluation of answer scripts, Chapter XLI i.e. Masters Degree and other Post Graduation Diploma Courses taught in the University excluding MBA, MCA LLM as illegal, arbitrary, unreasonable apparently discriminatory and thus, violative to Article 14 of the Constitution of India.

He appeared in IVth Semester examination held in the month of July 2010. He was shown to have not passed in the subjects CS-401 and CS-403. After obtaining Answer Scripts of these papers from the respondents under RTI Act, he found that the mathematical questions had not been evaluated properly. Petitioner issued a legal notice to respondents for re-evaluation of his Answer Scripts which was turned down vide communication dated 20.04.2011 on the ground that there was no statute for re-evaluation of Answer Scripts of the papers sought by the petitioner. Petitioner assails the provision excluding the facility of re-evaluation in MCA Course as being discriminatory in nature particularly for the reason that reevaluation facility could not be excluded for MCA Course when such facility has been made available in many other courses.

Heard and considered.

Admittedly petitioner, an employee of University of Jammu holding PGDCA, was admitted to appear in MCA Examination as a private candidate under the modified Rules incorporated in statute 13(A)(iii)(d) and being aware of the Rule position and having appeared in all six semester examinations, he cannot be heard to say that he was entitled to be directly admitted to IIIrd Semester, the principle of estoppel standing as a bar. In so far as refusal on the part of respondents to re-evaluate subjects of Accounting and Financial Management Course No. CS-401 and Translator Design Course No. CS-403 is concerned, justification thereof has to be tested on the touchstone of object sought to be achieved by exclusion of MCA Course from process of re-evaluation. Provision 1(B) of Chapter XLI of the University statutes provides for re-evaluation in all the courses except MBA, MCA and LLM. The exclusion, on the face of it, is limited to professional courses, academic standards whereof have been prescribed by the University Council and the Syndicate. Justification for such exclusion is advanced on the basis of opinion of experts/academicians maintaining quality and excellence of education in professional courses falling within its domain. The University statutes are said to have been framed after detailed deliberations by different academic bodies and finally approved by the competent authority. Power to amend the University statutes vests in the University Council under Kashmir and Jammu Universities Act, 1969 (hereinafter referred to as the Act). It is not denied that the relevant statutes have been framed in conformity with the procedure prescribed under Section 41 of the Act. Exclusion of re-evaluation of Answer Scripts in MCA Course is based on the opinion of experts prescribing rigorous standards of teaching/learning process in the program and the peculiar manner in which the Answer Scripts of the course are to be evaluated leaving hardly any scope for re-evaluation. It is well settled that Article 14 of the Constitution of India forbids class legislation but not reasonable classification for purposes of legislation and that in order to pass the test of permissible classification these two conditions must be fulfilled, namely:

Applying the dictum of Honble Apex Court to the facts of the case on hand, it is manifestly clear that MCA Course, being a professional course in respect whereof a high standard of excellence has been provided by experts of University Council to equip the candidates to meet the cut throat competition in Private/Corporate Sector, has consciously been excluded from the purview of re-evaluation of Answer Scripts with further object of avoiding complications arising out of such re-evaluation in a highly technical subject. Moreso, it may not be possible to dismiss the respondents plea offhand that re-evaluation in highly technical subjects like MCA Course would be a very difficult exercise.