LI Network
Published on: January 22, 2024 at 19:29 IST
In a recent ruling, the Supreme Court has mandated Himachal Pradesh University to pay a compensation of Rs 4 lakhs to a student following irregularities in the re-evaluation process.
The Bench comprising Justices J K Maheshwari and Sudhanshu Dhulia, found the university at fault for re-evaluating subjects for which the student had neither applied nor paid the revaluation fee.
The Court’s order stated, “Considering the aforesaid, it is apparent that the appellant has applied only for two subjects, but under the terms of Clause 10 of the Revaluation Form, without deposit of the revaluation fee, the revaluation of other subjects has been made….“
The appellant initially sought revaluation for two subjects, namely Botany and Hindi, for which the requisite fees were duly paid. However, the university conducted revaluation for all subjects, leading to a reduction in marks in areas where the appellant had not requested a reassessment. Dissatisfied with this outcome, the appellant approached the trial court, seeking damages totaling 10 lakhs.
The trial Court ruled in favor of the appellant and imposed a cost of 4 lakhs on the university. However, the High Court set aside this cost. In response, the appellant filed an appeal, challenging the High Court’s decision.
In an interim order, the Supreme Court directed the university to restore the original marks in other subjects and retain the corrected marks in Botany and Hindi.
Subsequently, the university issued a fresh mark sheet, rectifying the revaluation errors in other subjects and incorporating the enhanced marks in the requested Botany and Hindi papers.
Expressing dissatisfaction with the High Court’s decision to set aside the imposed cost, the Supreme Court found it legally untenable.
The Court, in its opinion, stated, “After hearing and perusal of the findings recorded by the learned Judge, we themselves are unable to understand the intention and the observations made by the learned Judge without going through the pleadings and the evidence brought on record and how far those observations are correct.”
Given these circumstances, the Supreme Court reinstated the trial court’s order, directing the university to compensate the student with a sum of Rs 4 lakhs.