Governor checks the law on marks scam

FEBRUARY 18: Governor P C Alexander, in his capacity as the Chancellor of the Mumbai University, has sought the opinion of the Law and Ju...

FEBRUARY 18: Governor P C Alexander, in his capacity as the Chancellor of the Mumbai University, has sought the opinion of the Law and Judiciary Department on the MBBS marks scandal in which all MBBS final-year students were given eight grace marks by the Mumbai University in their Preventive and Social Medicine paper, enabling 64 of them to pass. The move, which it later turned out had the approval of Vice-Chancellor Snehalata Deshmukh, had drawn widespread criticism from educationists.

Following a series of reports in Express Newsline, Alexander’s office had sought a status report from Vice-Chancellor Snehalata Deshmukh on the controversy. In her report, Deshmukh justified the decision of the Board of Examinations saying that the decision to alter marks was taken after it was established that the question paper was “tough” and that most of the students were not able to attempt several questions.

In fact her report was accepted by the Governor. However, following specific observations andrecommendations of the Maharashtra Medical Council (MMC), which was asked to inquire into the matter by Health Minister Daulatrao Aher, the Chancellor has now referred the file to the Law and Judiciary Department for its opinion, a senior official said.

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The MMC in its report has recommended that the grace marks granted to the students should be withdrawn and a fresh assessment be ordered. It has said that it is beyond the powers of either the Board of Examinations or the Vice-Chancellor to grant grace marks in such a manner. “We feel that such practice will deteriorate the standard of medical education in the Mumbai University,” the report says.

The official said that in her submissions to the chancellor, Deshmukh had contended that under Section 31 and 32 of the Maharashtra University Act, it was well within the powers of the Board of Examinations and also the Vice-Chancellor to grant grace marks. Her contention was that the results were amended following representations made by aggrieved students aswell as a section of the deans of the government and private medical colleges.

This explanation, however, is not acceptable to a cross-section of educationists, among them a former Vice-Chancellor. He is of the view that grace marks can be granted only before the declaration of the final results. “Once the results are declared, any modification in the marks is illegal,” is his opinion.

The three-member MMC committee, comprising Sudhir Dagaonkar, Deepak Palande and Hemant Sawant, which completed its report in record time in face of complete non-cooperation from the university, is also forwarding a copy to Alexander in a couple of days.