NIRAD BARAN MUKHERJI Vs. UNIVERSITY OF CALCUTTA

JUDGEMENT

(1.) IN this Rule the petitioner has asked for a writ in the nature of Mandamus for allowing him forthwith the inspection of his answer scripts for the M. A. examination in history for the year 1969. The petitioner has also prayed for a writ in the nature of certiorari asking the opposite parties to place his said answer scripts before this Court so that they may be identified by him and considered by the Court and conscionable justice may be done in his case. It appears that while obtaining the Rule the petitioner also succeeded in obtaining an ad interim order of injunction restraining the opposite parties from destroying or otherwise disposing of his answer scripts of the said M. A. examination in history.

(2.) THE petitioner, who is a teacher of Shibpur Fallimangal Junior High school since 1966, has alleged that he duly obtained his Bachelor of Arts Degree from the University of Calcutta as a private candidate in 1965. Thereafter, he sat for his Master of Arts Degree Examination in History under the said University in 1969 which was held in 1970, as a private candidate. He has alleged that his Roll Number was Cal. H. 141 and he duly sat for the said examination and submitted his answer scripts in all the papers and the charge of the said scripts were also taken by the officers of the said University.

(3.) THE results of the said examination were published in or about September, 1970 and on or about October 3, 1970, the petitioner was supplied with his mark sheet under serial No. 7489 and the same disclosed that he was not successful in getting through the said examination. The petitioner has contended that the way and the manner in which he got himself prepared and answered the questions, he could not have failed so miserably in the said subject. He in fact has submitted that either there was great manipulation or gross negligence or mistake on the part of the authorities of the University or the persons responsible for examining the scripts and that has caused the happening of the unfortunate event. The petitioner has further alleged that for the period of the examination under consideration, a peculiar procedure was followed by the authorities concerned inasmuch as scripts were sent to the examiners concerned under some secret code number without disclosing the actual Roll numbers of the examinees and he has a reasonable apprehension that the authorities concerned have not duly checked, verified and compared the said secret code numbers with the respective Roll numbers of the examinees after they were examined and for that he has become unsuccessful. The petitioner has further alleged that the said apprehension in his mind also finds support from the news item published in the daily issues at Ananda Bazar Patrika on January 28, 1971, which is said to be based on the statements of the Head of the Department of History of the University of Calcutta and which also speaks of "some mutual misunderstanding" in connection with the M. A. examination in History for 1969.