11 MBBS students to be declared passed

MUMBAI, APRIL 29: The Bombay High Court today delivered the final verdict on the marks of the 64 medical students whose marksheets have b...

MUMBAI, APRIL 29: The Bombay High Court today delivered the final verdict on the marks of the 64 medical students whose marksheets have been re-written more than once since the final year MBBS results were declared on Januray 12. As per a compromise formula suggested by the counsel for the University of Mumbai before the court, 11 of the 30 students who failed after revaluation will now be declared as passed while 19 others have finally been declared as failed in the Preventive and Social Medicine PSM paper. Of the 61 students who had moved court, 31 passed after revaluation.

Students who have failed will have to take the re-examination on May 6 while the two-month internship undertaken by the students who have now been declared as passed will be protected.

This draws to a close the controversy over the university8217;s decision to award eight grace marks across-the-board to 963 final year medical students after declaration of results in January. The university8217;s move was ostensibly a 8220;compensatory8221;exercise because the PSM paper had questions out of syllabus.

Taking cognisance of the illegality of the decision, Chancellor Dr P C Alexander had revoked the grace marks. The students who had been declared passed and in many cases obtained distinction because of the grace marks then approached court against the chancellor8217;s decision.

With the via media arrived at before a division bench of Justice Ashok Agarwal and Justice D K Deshmukh today, the chancellor8217;s order revoking the grace marks stands unaltered.

Following directions given on Wednesday, counsel for the university Rui Rodrigues today informed the court that of the 61 students who had moved court, 31 had passed in revaluation. After going through the revaluation marks of the remaining 30, he submitted that if the compromise formula were used, 11 of them would pass.

The formula was along the same lines as put forward yesterday. Only, in deference to objections of the Chancellor, the University had earlier decided to employ the six grace marksallowed by the Board of Examinations in these papers only in cases where they were eligible.

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Now, the University has decided to circumvent a clause in ordinance 237 A of the University Act, whereby change in marks is acknowledged only if a student secures 10 per cent marks, more or less. In this case, the PSM paper having a maximum of 80 marks, a student would have to secure a minimum of eight marks more for the change to be reflected in his paper.

With the decision to circumvent this clause, however, any number of marks obtained by the student, be it one to seven, will be considered by the university as if he/she had obtained them in the original assessment. To this, the earlier six grace marks already awarded would be added. This would help the 11 students to pass.

However, 19 students still remain outside the realm, who could not get the requisite marks to qualify for the grace marks and hence will be declared failed.

While the court allowed the university to declare the amended results by May 4,Rodrigues told the court it would be his responsibility to see that the students are informed through a list put out at the University8217;s Kalina campus by this evening.

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The chancellor on his part, through his counsel, state advocate general C J Sawant told the court he neither objected nor consented to the formula thus framed.

The order of the court explicitly reads that this case will not be cited as a precedent and was the result of only 8220;peculiar8221; circumstances of this situation.