Punjab and Haryana High Court Imposes ₹1 Lakh Fine on Panjab University for Wrongfully Failing Law Student
Last Updated on October 16, 2024 by Srijan Raj
The Punjab and Haryana High Court has imposed a fine of ₹1 lakh on Panjab University for wrongfully failing a law student in his 6th semester BA LLB examination. Justice Jasgurpreet Singh Puri ordered the university’s Vice Chancellor to implement corrective measures within two months.
The student, Rohan Rana, alleged that after failing the ‘Land Law and Rent Laws’ paper in May 2019, he re-appeared for it in May 2023, but the university lowered his score and declared him ‘failed.’The university’s grading criteria were based on a 60:40 ratio, with 60% allocated for the theory paper and 40% for internal assessment. In 2022, the regulations were amended retroactively from December 2018, changing the mark allocation ratio from 60:40 to 80:20. When Rana took the examination in May 2023, he earned 54 marks out of 80, thereby passing under the regulations in force in 2016. However, the university applied the amended regulations and scaled down his score from 54 out of 80 to 41 out of 60, resulting in him being declared ‘failed.’
The court questioned the university’s decision and inquired whether there were any instructions or legal provisions that justified the scaling down of the student’s marks. The court found the university’s reasoning—that the student, having enrolled in the academic session of 2016 but appearing for the exam in May 2023, should be assessed under the 80:20 ratio instead of the 60:40 ratio—as perverse and completely unsustainable.
The court deemed the decision arbitrary and based on whims, which adversely impacted the student’s career.The court set aside the challenged result and directed the university to process the grant of the student’s degree. Advocate Vishal Gupta appeared for the student, while Advocate Akshay Kumar Goel appeared for the Panjab University.
