
NEW DELHI, Aug 5: The Supreme Court has come to the rescue of an aspiring doctor by making it clear that a student appearing for an entrance examination should not suffer due to an invigilator’s mistake in providing the wrong answer paper and the resultant loss of time in rectifying the same.
S Tulasi Priya contended in the apex court that she could attempt 170 out of 200 questions bearing a mark each while appearing for the engineering, agriculture and medical common entrance test (EAMCET) in Andhra Pradesh in 1996 as she lost 20 minutes of the three hour test due to invigilator’s mistake and subsequent rectification.
She said though she got 160.75 marks constituting 94.55 per cent marks of the 170 attempted questions, it was not enough to get her a seat in a medical college in the state.
A division bench comprising Justice S P Bharucha and Justice K Venkataswami ruled on Tuesday that she could not be held liable for the invigilator’s mistake and her percentage in the entrance examination should betaken as 94.55.
“In the circumstances and to do complete justice, it is necessary to direct that Priya shall be considered for admission to a medical college in the state of Andhra Pradesh in a seat from the quota of the state for the academic session upon the basis that she has secured 94.55 per cent marks at the EAMCET,” the bench ordered.