VIVEK KUMAR SINGH Vs. BANARAS HINDU UNIVERSITY

JUDGEMENT

(1.) Impervious attitude of the respondents towards the grievance of the petitioner and their obduracy in not looking beyond the Information booklet have dragooned the petitioner to knock at the doors of this Court by means of the instant petition under Art. 226 of the Constitution, canvassing the legality and propriety of the impugned action and orders.

(2.) Chronology of events leading the petitioner to file the present petition is that the petitioner-Vijai Kumar Singh, appeared in the Pre-Medical Test (PMT)/Pharmacy Admission Test (PAT) 1996, conducted by Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi, for which he was allotted role No. 27239. He took up his test in Amir Uddaula Islamia Degree College, Lalbagh, Lucknow, which was one of the Centres of the aforesaid examination. The test had for its basis, a single paper begging answer of 200 objective type questions, within a stipulated duration of 31/2 hours. The paper comprised in four sections, namely, Physics, Chemistry, Botany and Zoology of 50 objective type questions each. The question booklet No. 27239 that was supplied to the petitioner, missed on sheets containing questions Nos. 29 to 50 in Physics section and questions 146 to 165 in Botany and Zoology sections. The petitioner, it is alleged in the petition, adverted it to the notice of the Invigilator as well as the Examination Incharge within 10 minutes of the supply of the question booklet that it was littered with bloomers indicated above, but the question booklet that was supplied to him, was not replaced by a correct one. The case of the respondent-University is that the defect in the question booklet was pointed out by the petitioner after a lapse of one hour of the commencement of the examination and not within 10 minutes as contemplated in Instruction No. 11.6 of the Information booklet for PMT/PAT-1996 which reads thus :

(3.) The petitioner initially invoked the procedures of this Court by filing Writ Petition No. 21382 of 1996 which culminated in being disposed of finally, vide judgment/order dated 9-7-96, embodying directions that the Professor Incharge PMT/PAT Institute of Medical Sciences BHU would delve into the grievances of the petitioner and dispose of his representation dated 4-6-96 within 15 days from the date of receipt of a certified copy of the order along with a copy of the writ petition and communicate the decision to the petitioner immediately after the representation was decided. The representation met the fate of rejection vide order dated 3-8-96, whereafter the instant petition came to be filed for quashing of the said order and for a writ of mandamus commanding the respondents to declare the petitioner as selected in PMT/PAT-1996 and/or quashing the whole PMT/PAT-1996, conducted by the Banaras Hindu University and when the petition came up before the Court on 10-9-96, the counsel appearing for the University raised the contention having a flavour of a preliminary objection that the petitioner had an alternative remedy of appeal to the Vice-Chancellor against the impugned order dated 3/08/1996. The Court, by an interim order passed on 10-9-96, provided that in case the petitioner filed an appeal against the order dated 3/08/1996, the Vice-Chancellor would endeavour to dispose it of within 15 days of the receipt of the appeal on merits. The appeal preferred, has since been rejected by order dated 27-9-96 and communicated to the petitioner vide letter dated 3-10-1996, which is also sought to be quashed by incorporating a prayer in that regard vide order dated 1-5-97 passed on the amendment application.