A GOJENDRA MEETEI Vs. PUNJAB UNIVERSITY

JUDGEMENT

(1.) The petitioner, Gojendra Meetai, who hails from Imphal, in the Union Territory of Manipur, took the pre-medical examination of the Punjab University at Simla as a student of the S.D.B. College of that place, in April, 1967. His Roll No. was 4849. The result of the examination was declared in the middle of June, 1967, but the petitioner's name did not appear among the successful candidates and his Roll Number was mentioned among those, whose result was pending. On contacting the University authorities, he learnt that some enquiry was pending against him and others on the allegation that they had indulged in unfair means in answering English Paper B. The petitioner vehemently protested and denied the allegation but his plea was rejected by the Standing Committee appointed by the University to deal with such cases and by the Punjab University Notification dated 11th of August, 1967 (copy A-7), he was disqualified from appearing in any University examination for four sessions of 1967 and 1968 under Regulation 13(b) appearing at page 106 of the Punjab University Calendar, 1966 , Vol. I. It is for quashing this order that the petitioner has approached this Court under Articles 226 and 227 of the Constitution.

(2.) The circumstances in which the enquiry into the use of unfair means was conducted against the petitioner and he was penalised are detailed in the note of the Registrar appended to the proceedings of the Standing Committee, marked A-6. No complaint regarding the use of unfair means by the petitioner or other candidates, who had appeared for the premedical examination at the Simla Centre in April, 1967, was received while the examination was on. It was only after the examination was over and while the Sub-Examiner was evaluating the answer books of the petitioner and others who had appeared at the same centre that he found that some of the candidates, including the petitioner, had "indulged in copying" and accordingly he submitted his report to the Head Examiner stating that the candidates bearing Roll Nos. 4845 to 4849 had "received something written from outside and after having copied from it, they have passed it on to the other". The Head Examiner scrutinised the other answer books and substantially agreed with the Sub-Examiner. The matter was then referred to Mr. Rajendra Nath Seth Reader in English, Punjab University Evening college, as an Expert, who exonerated Roll No. 4847, but found sufficient evidence of copying against the petitioner (Roll No. 4849) and three other candidates, bearing, Roll Nos. 4845, 4846 and 4848, all of whom had appeared in the pre-medical Examination from the same centre. It is only on the opinion of this Expert that the Standing Committee disqualified the four candidate bearing Roll Nos. 4845, 4846, 4848 and 4849, including the petitioner.

(3.) It is not denied that before action was taken against the petitioner, he was summoned by the Assistant Registrar of the University for inquiry into the alleged use of unfair means by him while appearing at the University examination and when he appeared before the Assistant Registrar on 29th June, 1967, he was served with a Questionnaire detailing the various allegations made against him, to which he gave written answers. His statements thus recorded along with the reports of the Sub-Examiner, Head Examiner and the Expert, to which reference has been made earlier, were considered by the Standing Committee before the impugned order was made against the petitioner.