UNIVERSITY OF CALCUTTA Vs. DIPA PAL

JUDGEMENT

(1.) This is an appeal from a judgment and order of Bose, J., dated Feb. 18, 1952, by which he quashed an order passed by the Vice-Chancellor and Syndicate of the University of Calcutta, cancelling the examination of the respondent for the degree of Bachelor of Arts.

(2.) The respondent was a student of the Muralidhar Girls' College, Calcutta, and appeared at the examination for the degree of Bachelor of Arts of the University of Calcutta in the year 1951 as a non-collegiate student, (her roll number for the said examination being Cal. F. N. 368. She sat for the examination in the premises of the Muralidhar Girls' College and during the examination no suggestion was made to her that she had been guilty of any unfair or dishonest practises. The respondent appears to have been satisfied that she had passed in the examination, but to her surprise she found when the results were published that her name was not included in the list of successful candidates. On enquiry she found that she had been reported against to the University authorities for having adopted unfair mean at the said examination. Eventually the University authorities found her guilty of having adopted unfair means and cancelled her examination, but permitted her to sit for the examination for the degree of Bachelor of Arts in the following year. In her examination for the degree of Bachelor of Arts one of her subjects was Philosophy in which there were three papers, one being a paper on Psychology. It seems that the examiner noticed a very close resemblance in the papers of a number of examinees in Psychology and on June 11, 1951, he made a report to the Head Examiner of the University. In that report he stated that he was convinced that two groups of candidates had indulged in unfair practises in the examination and he was of opinion that the invigilators at the Muralidhar Girls' College centre had been negligent. It is to be observed that a similarity was noticed between the paper of the respondent which bore the roll number Cal. F. N. 368 and the paper of another candidate bearing the roll number Cal. F. N. 363. The examiner marked with asterisks in red pencil certain portions of answers which had aroused his suspicion and In particular invited the Head Examiner's careful attention to the answer to question No. 6(d). The examiner added that he would be grateful if the Head Examiner would bring the matter before the University authorities if he was satisfied with the correctness of his (the examiner's) findings.

(3.) On July 20, 1951, the Head Examiner wrote to the Controller of Examinations forwarding the letter of the examiner in Psychology in the examination for the degree of Bachelor of Arts. The Head Examiner reported that he had gone through the papers and that his suspicion was also very strong.