ABHISHEK BANERJEE Vs. UNIVERSITY OF CALCUTTA

JUDGEMENT

(1.) This writ application is directed against the action of the respondent University of Calcutta in declaring the petitioner as 'failed' in the Master of Science Part II Examination in Computer and Information Science, nothwithstanding the fact that the petitioner obtained over 240 out of 600, that is, over 40% in the aggregate in the theoretical papers and over 50 per cent in each of the practical papers.

(2.) The facts giving rise to the writ application are briefly as follows : The petitioner claims to have passed the Madhyamik Examination conducted by the West Bengal Board of Secondary Education in the year 1996 securing 75% marks. According to the petitioner, the petitioner thereafter passed the Higher Secondary Examination in the year 1998 securing 73.6% marks in the science subjects. It has been stated that the petitioner appeared for the B.Sc. Part I Examination in which he secured 66% marks. In the B.Sc. Part II Examination the petitioner claims to have secured 67% marks. After graduating in Science from Calcutta University with over 66% marks the petitioner got himself admitted in the Master of Science course in Computer and Information Science conducted by the University of Calcutta. According to the petitioner, the Master of Science Examination in Computer and Information Science is governed by Notification No. CSR 90/ 98 dated 9th October, 1998 of the University of Calcutta.

(3.) The relevant regulations with regard to the Master of Science Examination in Computer and Information Science as laid down in the said Circular are extracted hereinbelow for convenience : "1. The Department of Computer Science, University of Calcutta shall provide instructions leading to two-year M.Sc. degree in Computer & Information Science. 2. A candidate who has passed 3-year B.Sc. Examination with Honours in Computer Science can apply for admission to the M.Sc. course. Admission for candidates from other Universities will be governed according to the University rules. 3. There will be two examinations-M.Sc. Part I & M.Sc. Part II. Which will be held at the end of each academic session. 4.1. The total marks for the two-year M.Sc. course in Computer & Information Science will be 1000. The distribution of marks for Part I & Part II Examination will be as follows : <FRM>JUDGEMENT_254_CALHN2_2005Html1.htm</FRM> Part I Examination shall consist of four theoretical and one practical paper. Part II Examination shall consist of two theoretical papers including one optional special paper, one Practical, one Project and one paper for Seminar & General Viva-voce. 4.2. Examination on each practical paper : i. 40 Marks for internal assessment on the basis of class work. ii. 40 marks for practical examination of 6 hours duration, iii. 20 marks for viva-voce examination. 4.3. Pass marks for project, general viva-voce and seminar will be same as those for practical papers. 4.4. Each candidate will have to submit a project-work report under the supervision of faculty member/members. The project work will be assessed by the external and internal examiners and marks will be awarded on the basis of sessional work (60 marks) and viva-voce (40 marks). 4.5. Each candidate will have to deliver a seminar lecture on a previously decided topic and he/she will have to submit a report on the seminar topic. 5.1. A candidate shall be eligible to appear at the Part I & Part II Examinations provided he/she prosecutes a regular course of studies with minimum attendance (60% of total classes) in classes. 5.2. Qualifying marks for Part I Examination will be 40% of the total marks of theoretical papers and 50% of each practical paper. 5.3. If a candidate secures less than 25% marks in any theoretical paper, 5 marks for each such paper will be deducted from the total marks obtained in theoretical papers. The deduction will not be applicable for a paper of 50 marks. 6. All candidates who have completed the Part I Examination shall join the second year M.Sc. classes which will ordinarily commence immediately after the completion of Part I Examination. The University will publish a list of successful candidates for the Part I Examination candidates failing to qualify in the Part I Examination shall automatically revert back to the Part I course immediately after the publication of the result. 7. A candidate will get not more than three consecutive chances including the first one to qualify/pass in each of the Part I & Part II Examinations. 8. The final result (combining the Part I & Part II Examination results) will be determined by adding marks for all theoretical papers separately. A candidate obtaining 40% marks in theoretical papers (i.e. 240 out of 600) & 50% marks in practical papers (in each examination) will be declared as passed with a Second Class. A candidate securing 60% marks in the total aggregate of Part I & Part II Examinations will be placed in the First Class.