Answersheet lost, HC directs Himachal Pradesh University to give BEd student proportionate marks

Legal Correspondent

Shimla, May 29

The HP High Court has quashed a provision contained in an ordinance of Himachal Pradesh University (HPU), which provided that if the answersheet of a student has been lost, the university will give him a chance to reappear in that particular subject.

What the petition says

A BEd student of a private college affiliated with the HPU had pleaded in his petition that he had given the fourth semester examination in August 2022. But, when the university declared the results, in one subject, his result was declared as RLA (result late due to award). He was told that the university had not received his answersheet.

A Division Bench of Acting Chief Justice Tarlok Singh Chauhan and Justice Virender Singh, while declaring the provision as unfair, observed that “how a student, who had appeared in the examination once, can be compelled to reappear without his or her fault.”

The court directed the university to award proportionate marks to the petitioner on the basis of average marks obtained by him in other papers of BEd and declare the result within two weeks.

The court passed the order on a petition filed by a BEd student of a private college affiliated with the HPU, who pleaded that he had given the fourth semester examination in August 2022. However, when the university declared the results, in one subject, his result was declared as RLA (result late due to award).

The petitioner stated that he was told that the university had not received his answersheet and it was lost. The university also informed him that his college did not send the answer-sheet at all. The university and the college kept levelling allegations against each other due to which he approached the High Court.

The university opposed the petition by relying on the ordinance 6.67 and contending that in such a situation, where the answer-sheet had been lost, the applicant could only be given a chance to reappear in the exam.

The court observed that “there is nothing on record to demonstrate that the university authorities have taken any step to inquire about the missing answer-sheet and take action against those responsible for the loss.”