JAWAHARLAL NEHRU UNIVERSITY Vs. B S NARWAL

JUDGEMENT

(1.) The Jawaharlal Nehru University, considered to be one of the prestigious academic institutions of the country, is the appellant in this appeal by special leave of this Court under Article 136 of the Constitution. Named after the great liberal, humanist and democrat of the century, the University was established by Act of Parliament to "embody a unique synthesis of Humanities, the Sciences and Technology" and to "endeavour to promote the study of principles for which Jawaharlal Nehru worked during his life-time, namely, national integration, social justice, secularism, democratic way of life, international understanding and scientific approach to the problems of society".

(2.) The Court' is the supreme authority of the University and it has the power to review the acts of the Executive Council and the Academic Council. The Vice Chancellor is the Principal Executive and Academic Officer of the University. The Executive Council is the executive body of the University, in charge of the general management and administration of the University while the Academic Council is the academic body of the University, responsible for the maintenance of standards of instruction, education and examination within the University. The Executive Council is empowered to make 'Statutes' in the manner prescribed by the Jawaharlal Nehru University Act and to make 'Ordinances' in the manner prescribed by the Statutes.

(3.) Ordinances have been duly made and Ordinance 13 deals with the award of M. A., B. A. (Honours) and B. A. (Pass) degrees. The University offers Integrated Five-Year Programmes of studies leading in the award of M.A. Degree in several Disciplines and Languages. Russian is one of the languages in which such a programme of studies is offered. The programme is spread over ten semesters in five academic years. In the first two semesters, courses described as 'C' level courses are given, in the next four semesters 'B' level courses are given and in the last four semesters 'A' level courses are given. Each 'C' level course carries two credits, each 'B' level course three credits and each 'A' level course four credits. Paragraph 7.3 of Ordinance 13 prescribes a minimum of 144 credits in the case of Social Sciences and 176 credits in the case of languages for the Master of Arts Degree, out of which there have to be a minimum of 20 credits from 'C' level courses, 60 from 'B' level courses and 64 from 'A' level courses in the case of Social Sciences and a minimum of 28 from 'C' level courses, 84 from 'B' level courses and 64 from 'A' level courses, in the case of languages. It is further prescribed that a minimum of 50% of credits but not more than 75% should be in the discipline in which the student is formally registered for the Master's degree. It may be mentioned here that the courses in the discipline in which the student is formally registered are known as the 'core courses' while the other courses for which also the student has to prescribe are known as 'Tool courses' and 'optional courses'. Paragraph 7.5 prescribes that the courses on the basis of which a student earns his 'C' level credits shall be at least from four disciplines. Paragraph 7.6 provides that a student shall be required to earn at least a minimum of ten credits from courses in Tools, Techniques and Methodology. Paragraph 8 of Ordinance 13 prescribes the method of evaluation. Sessional work is to carry the same weight as the semester examination. In each course a student is graded on a ten point scale and the final grade point is obtained by applying the formula.