Mumbai University has decided to impose a penalty of Rs 10 lakh on one of its affiliated law colleges for giving out wrong question paper to students appearing for Semester 10 exam of BA LLB (five year) course, in April. The decision was taken in a recently held Management Council meeting of the varsity. According to a senior official from the varsity, the disciplinary action was decided upon in a meeting held in May by the Board of Examinations and Evaluation. It was subsequently presented in the MC meeting for finalisation. The college has to pay the fine within a month. The issue had come to light on April 19, when students appearing for BA LLB (five-year) Semester 10 exam at the Chembur Karnataka College of Law complained of receiving wrong question papers. The Indian Evidence Act has been replaced by Bharatiya Sakshya Adhiniyam. Accordingly, the varsity's law syllabus too is altered. Instead of the scheduled paper of Bharatiya Sakshya Adhiniyam of the new law syllabus, they were given a question paper of Evidence Act which comes from the old curriculum and is set for repeaters only. The Indian Express had reported about the issue. Aggrieved students had then alleged that they were asked to continue writing the Evidence Act paper, using concepts and sections from Bhartiya Sakshya Adhiniyam, despite flagging the error. The college administration, however, had refuted their claims while stating that it was them who informed varsity authorities on their own, after learning about the issue. Principal of the College, Dr Priya Prabhu, did not respond to calls or messages on Thursday. Student activist Sachin Pawar from Student Law Council, who had raised the issue after the exam, welcomed the action and said, "This will set an example for other colleges to be careful. These mistakes are not small as they impact academic records of students which in turn will hamper their career plans."
