Punjab & Haryana HC Directs Panjab University To Pay ₹1L Compensation To Law Student For Wrongfully Declaring Him 'Fail'

The Punjab and Haryana High Court has imposed a Rs 1 lakh penalty on Panjab University for wrongfully declaring a BA LLB student as 'fail' in a paper from the 6th semester. The Court found that the university had unjustly reduced the student’s marks, affecting his academic career.

The Single-Bench of Justice Jasgurpreet Singh Puri, while delivering the judgment, directed the Vice Chancellor of the university to address the issue and take corrective measures within two months. The Court emphasized that the student was entitled to exemplary compensation due to the wrongful actions of the university.

"Since the career of the petitioner has been affected because of the wrongful action of the respondent-University, he is entitled to exemplary costs in the nature of compensation which are assessed as Rs.1,00,000," the Court observed. It further added that the university was free to recover this amount from any official found guilty in the internal inquiry.

The student, who had failed a 'Land Law and Rent Laws' paper in 2019, reappeared for the exam in May 2023. Despite securing 54 out of 80 marks and passing the exam, the university scaled down his score to 41 out of 60, ultimately declaring him 'fail'. The Court found this method of scaling unjustified and unsupported by any legal provision.

The university claimed that because the student had enrolled in the 2016-17 academic session, the ratio of internal assessment and theory marks was changed from 60:40 to 80:20. However, the Court found this reasoning unsound, stating that such scaling needed to follow a proper legal formula, which was absent in this case.

“The decision to scale down the marks was based on whims and fancies...It was not only illegal and perverse but is also deprecated by this Court,” the Court said. The Court criticized the university’s justification of 'past practice', ruling that no such practice could supersede the rule of law.

"The aforesaid amount shall be paid by the respondent-University at the first instance to the petitioner and thereafter, the Vice Chancellor of the respondentUniversity shall be at liberty to conduct an enquiry into the aforesaid issue and also to fix the responsibility of the official(s) concerned and shall also be at liberty to recover the aforesaid costs from the official(s) concerned in accordance with law," the Court ordered.

Cause Title: Rohit Rana v. Panjab University and others [Neutral Citation No. 2024:PHHC:124979]

Appearance:-

Petitioner: Advocate Vishal Gupta

Respondent: Advocate Akshay Kumar Goel

Click here to read/download the Judgment