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This Writ Petition is filed to declare the action of respondent No.2, in getting the petitioners' answer scripts digitally evaluated without complying with the earlier orders of this Court, as illegal and arbitrary. A consequential direction is sought to get the petitioners' answer scripts evaluated manually without any discrepancies in fool proof method.

Petitioners' are prosecuting Post Graduate Degree Training Programme in Katuri Medical College and other colleges affiliated to respondent No.2- NTR University of Health Sciences and appeared for final year examination conducted in November, 2019. Medical Council of India framed Indian Medical Council P.G. Medical Education Regulations 2000, according to which, a booklet containing 68 pages will be supplied to each student for writing answers in the examination. The answer scripts will be evaluated by 4 examiners independently. The marks awarded by all the 4 examiners will be clubbed and average marks would be taken, based on which, the results of the students would be announced. Previously, the answer scripts were evaluated by the examiners manually, but a few years back, respondent No.2 - NTR University of Health Sciences introduced digitalized evaluation system, according to which, individual answer scripts of the students are being subjected to scanning and the scanned answer scripts are evaluated by 4 examiners. Grievance of the petitioners is that they have done well in the examinations which were conducted in April, 2019, but they were declared as failed, since lot of aberrations took place in the process of evaluation of answer scripts. Later they appeared for supplementary examinations in the month of October, 2019 and they were again declared as failed and on verification of answer scripts, they found no remarks/tick marks on the evaluated papers. Hence the writ petition.

Counter-affidavit is filed on behalf of the 2nd respondent stating inter-alia that the University has sent letters to the concerned valuation centres of their college for giving proper training to their valuators with the help of technical staff of M/s Globarena Technologies Pvt. Ltd., Hyderabad, including using of tools for giving remarks; the examiners/evaluators were given proper training for using the tools, for giving remarks and that after satisfying the same, the digital valuation has been started; while evaluating the answer scripts digitally, tools like stylus marks, tick mark or 'x' marks, underling, comments etc., are available for giving remarks by the examiners and it is the discretion of the examiner to make use of the tools; there is no regulation for revaluation of the answer scripts of the petitioners either in MCI Regulations or University regulations and that in 'Sahiti & others vs. The Chancellor, Dr.NTR University of Health Sciences & others1', the Hon'ble Supreme Court held that "a direction to revaluate the answer sheets should not be given".

This Court in W.P.No.10376 of 2019, dated 19.09.2019, while relying upon the judgment of this Court in Dr. P. Kishore Kumar's case and Dr. J. Kiran Kumar's case, allowed the Writ petition and directed the respondents therein to once again evaluate the answer scripts. The petitioners therein were also a group of medical students and they filed the Writ Petition to declare the action of the respondents therein in not getting the answer scripts digitally evaluated as per the earlier orders of this Court as illegal and arbitrary and even in the said case the answer scripts were produced and they did not contain any marks to show that they have been actually evaluated and in those circumstances it was observed that, despite the said two judgments the examiners have not followed the instructions given by the University and the Court.

In the circumstances, the Writ Petition is allowed directing respondent No.2 to digitally evaluate the answer scripts as per prevalent MCI norms by identifying four fresh examiners; respondent No.2 - University shall give clear and categorical instructions to the new set of examiners to physically put the marks viz. stylus mark, tick mark etc. on the uploaded answer script and the corrected sheet shall be preserved for future review. The entire exercise shall be completed within a period of five weeks from the date of receipt of a copy of the order. There shall be no order as to costs.