JAGAT NARAIN GUPTA Vs. PUNJAB UNIVERSITY CHANDIGARH

JUDGEMENT

(1.) This is a letters patent appeal filed under Clause X of the Letters Patent against the judgment dated 17th February, 1989, passed by the learned single Judge by which C.W.P. No. 9016 of 1988 filed by petitioner-appellant, Jagat Narain Gupta, was dismissed. Reported in AIR 1990 Punj and Har 84.

(2.) The appellant had prayed for the issuance of a writ of mandamus directing the Punjab University to add 3 marks to the aggregate marks secured by him as a result of the Fifth and Sixth Semester Examinations of the LL.B. Course, which marks the appellant had gained by re-evaluation of one of the papers in the Fifth Semester Examination. This addition of 3 marks gained by reevaluation in the Fifth Semester was considered as material by the appellant, as by this process he would have stolen a march over Jasdeep Singh and Rajneesh Kumar Gupta, respondents Nos. 3 and 4, which would have enabled the appellant to claim Gold Medal to be awarded, being topper in the LL.B. (Final) Examination of the University.

(3.) The appellant got admission in 1985 in the first year of the LL.B. Course which consisted of six Semesters. Respondents Nos. 3 and 4, Jasdeep Singh and Rajneesh Kumar Gupta, were also admitted in the same year to the same course. After clearing the Fourth Semester, by passing the four examinations, of the four Semesters separately, all the three students were admitted in the Fifth Semester in August, 1987. The examination for the Fifth Semester was held in December, 1987. The appellant and Jagdeep Singh, respondent No. 3, feeling dissatisfied with the marks secured by them in the Fifth Semester Examination, applied for re-evaluation of some of the papers. Though as a result of the re-evaluation, an increase of 3 marks was to be allowed in the case of the appellant and of 5 marks in the case of respondent No. 3 Jasdeep Singh, but the same was not done in the case of the appellant. Resultantly, the marks obtained by the appellant in the Fifth Semester remained 337, that is, the original award declared by the University, whereas in the case of Jasdeep Singh, respondent No. 3, after making the addition of 5 marks, the award rose to 348 from 343 as it originally stood. Thereafter, in the Sixth Semester. Examination, the appellant secured 359 marks arid Jasdeep Singh, respondent No. 3, secured 349 marks. Since for awarding the Degree of the Bachelor of Laws, marks secured by a candidate in the Fifth Semester Examination as well as in the Sixth Semester Examination are added, the appellant obviously secured 696 marks (337 in the Fifth Semester and 359 in the Sixth Semester). On the other hand, Jasdeep Singh, respondent No. 3, secured 697 marks (348 in the Fifth Semester and 349 in the Sixth Semester). So far as Rajneesh Kumar Gupta, respondent No. 4, was concerned, he too secured 697 marks, which award is not in dispute in the present case. As a result, both Jasdeep Singh and Rajneesh Kumar Gupta, respondent Nos. 3 and 4, having secured 697 marks each, were declared as toppers in the LL.B. (Final) Examination of the University as also eligible for the award of Gold Medal. Aggrieved by this position, the petitioner-appellant approached this Court by way of writ petition under Arts.226 and 227 of the Constitution of India, for the issuance of a mandamus for the addition of 3 marks flowing from the re-evaluation of a paper in the Fifth Semester Examination, to the marks secured by him in the Sixth Semester Examination so that he could claim the award of Gold Medal in his favour.