The High Court stated unequivocally that the University's decision not to include revalued marks for awarding medals is arbitrary and unsustainable.
The Delhi High Court has overturned the University of Delhi's (DU) policy that stated that revaluation results will not be considered while awarding gold medals and prizes [Annie Gurmeher Kaur v University of Delhi and Anr].
Justice Rekha Palli, a single judge, decided that the University's decision not to include revalued grades while awarding medals is manifestly arbitrary and hence cannot be upheld.
The Court was hearing a petition filed by Annie Gurmeher Kaur, a student who claimed she had enrolled in a DU-affiliated college in 2017 to study BA (Hons) Economics.
She applied for revaluation after being dissatisfied with her grades in the 'Indian Economy 2' paper in the sixth semester.
Her scores in the "Indian Economy 2" paper increased from 52 to 58 after revaluation, the results of which were announced on February 11, 2021, and her overall CGPA increased from 9.595 to 9.635.
However, before the revaluation results were revealed, DU released a preliminary list of applicants who would receive medals and prizes at the annual convocation on February 27, 2021.
Kaur then approached the Dean of Examination Division, requesting that she be considered for the medal that would be given to the BA (Hons) Economics student with the highest grade.
Her appeal, however, was denied in a correspondence dated February 18, 2021, and she was informed that, pursuant to a resolution approved by the University's executive committee on March 6, 2013, medals could only be awarded on the basis of the candidate's initial marks.
As a result, she disputed both the University resolution and the correspondence sent to her.
The University's counsel informed the court that it was justified in not accepting revalued scores for medal awarding because most winners want to enrol for post-graduate courses or employment chances as soon as the final semester results are announced.
The university has made a policy decision to ensure that students are not forced to wait for their medals/prizes until the entire procedure of other students seeking revaluation/improvement is completed, according to the counsel.
However, Justice Palli has ruled that, while DU, as one of the country's finest universities, must stick to its results-declaration timetable, it cannot be allowed to act in a way that causes unfairness to students who merit the honour.
"The fact that the petitioner's scores were raised after she requested a reassessment of her exam in 'Indian Economy 2' demonstrates that the examiner made an obvious error in appraising her performance." "The respondent (University) simply cannot turn a blind eye to this issue by maintaining that, in terms of the resolution dated 06.03.2014, the marks received by a student after revaluation cannot be taken into account when calculating the topper for the award of medals/prizes," the verdict noted.
The judge stated that depriving a student like the petitioner of the medal and prizes to which she is entitled after revaluation would be tantamount to depriving her of the advantage of an increase in grades for no fault of her own.
"I have no problem in holding that the respondent's decision to disqualify the petitioner from receiving a medal/prize as the highest scorer in B.A. (Hons.) (Economics) 2017-2020 is manifestly arbitrary and unsustainable." "The circular dated 06.03.2014, insofar as it states that the results of the revaluation will not be taken into account for awarding gold medals and prizes, is totally arbitrary and cannot be supported," the Court stated.
As a result, the University's March 2014 circular, as well as the correspondence sent to Kaur, were set aside.
Because the student who was declared topper according to the tentative list is not before it, and because Kaur has already stated that she will waive her claim to the monetary portion of the prize, Justice Palli believes that the interests of both students can be protected by ordering the university to award the medal and prize jointly to them.
As a result, DU was told to offer the medal to both students, as well as a monetary award to the student who was named topping in the provisional list.
Lawyers Aakanksha Nehra and Sandeep Bajaj represented the petitioner, while advocates Mohinder JS Rupal and B. Bhawani represented DU.
Comments