CONTROLLER OF EXAMINATIONS PONDICHERRY UNIVERSITY Vs. S SHYAMALA

JUDGEMENT

(1.) This is a classic example where, though the unfortunate petitioner has succeeded in her writ petition, she would not get the real advantage of that judgment.

(2.) The first respondent herein namely S.Shyamala, though entered a medical college in July 2000, that college got its approval from the Medical Council of India only with effect from December 2000. In short, her training in the medical course and more particularly M.B.B.S Phase I started effectively in December 2000. She took her first examination therefore for M.B.B.S Phase I in December 2001. She failed in that examination in the subject of Physiology. She therefore appeared for the next examination which is in the nature of arrears examination in May 2002. In this examination also she was declared to have failed. But before the result came, there was an amendment to the Regulations on Graduate Medical Education, 1997. This amendment was published in the Government Gazette on 2.7.2002 and it came into force with effect from the same day owing to Regulation 1(2) of the Notification dated 1.7.2002. By that amendment, Regulation 13 of the Regulations on Graduate Medical Education, 1997 was amended in the sense that a new sub-regulation 10 was added which was as under: "The grace marks up to a maximum of five marks may be awarded at the discretion of the University to a student who has failed only in one subject but has passed in all other subjects."

(3.) The facts suggest that though the writ petitioner had failed only in one subject by three marks in the examination held in December 2001, in the May examination however, she failed by thirteen marks and obviously the advantage of this Amendment was not given to her insofar as the examination held in May 2002. It is again liable to be noted that though the arrears examination was held in May 2002, perhaps because the results were not declared by then, the advantage of this Amendment which came on the anvil on 1.7.2002 was given to the students who had appeared even in the examinations held prior thereto. Be that as it may, since the petitioner student did not get the advantage of this Amendment, she filed writ petition no.37595/2002. Her stand was that this Amendment should be held to be retrospective in nature and should be held applicable atleast to the examination held in December 2001 because, if it was made applicable to the examination held in May 2002, which was only an arrears examination, by necessary implication, it should also be made applicable to the examination held earlier in December 2001. The prayer in this writ petition is in the following terms: "For the afore reasons, this Hon'ble Court may be pleased to issue any appropriate Writ Order or Direction, and in particular issue a Writ of Mandamus, directing the first respondent to produce the answer papers of the petitioner in Physiology I and II of the 1st year M.B.B.S Examination with Registration No.2161717574 (taken in December, 2001 and in May, 2002) verify the petitioner's marks and promote her to second year M.B.B.S 2002-2003, by declaring her as passed after granting her grace marks as per practice and as approved in the Medical Council of India's Notification dated 01.07.2002, containing Graduate Medical Education (Amendment) Regulations, 2002 and pass such other orders as are necessary and proper to meet the ends of justice."