Bombay High Court denies relief to B.Tech student over discrepancy in MHT-CET scorecard

Account subscription benefits alongside Premium Stories, Editorials, Opinions and more. Unlock these with Subscription

The Bombay High Court has refused to grant relief to a student whose provisional admission to a B.Tech course was cancelled after the university discovered discrepancies in his scorecard.

A Division Bench of Justice Riyaz Chagla and Justice Farhan Dubash dismissed the petition filed by Shubham Vijay Mangire against the State of Maharashtra and the Maharashtra Health and Technical Common Entrance Test (MHT-CET) Cell.

The court noted that the mark sheet submitted by the student to MHT-Word Peace University (WPU) in Pune showed a higher percentile than the scorecard available on the MHT-CET portal. The Bench directed the MHT-CET Cell to investigate the matter and submit a report.

In its report, the MHT-CET Cell stated that the scorecards submitted by the student were not generated by the CET Cell and appeared to have been tampered with or fabricated. The first scorecard indicated marks of 78.874707 and 73.5482364 in both attempts, while the actual scorecard available with the MHT-CET showed marks of 7.8474707 and 13.5482364.

The Bench observed that an examination conducted for determining merit and allocating educational opportunities depends on the integrity of the examination process and the authenticity of documents produced by candidates.

The court stated that any attempt to manipulate marks, percentiles, or scorecards affects the foundation of the admission process.

The court said, "Competition for admission to professional courses may be intense. The anxiety of a student to secure admission and the disappointment that may follow upon obtaining a particular result are understandable. What cannot be countenanced is the adoption of impermissible means to overcome the consequences of an examination result. No admission can justify manipulation of an examination record."

The Bench clarified that its observations were confined to the authenticity of the scorecards and the petitioner's entitlement to relief. The court stated that nothing in the order should be construed as a finding that the petitioner had committed any criminal offence or as precluding any criminal proceedings against him.

The court found the facts of the case to be concerning and noted that such conduct in admissions to professional courses should not be left unchecked. The Bench dismissed the plea and refused to interfere with the university's decision to cancel the student's provisional admission.

Advocate Sandeep Pathak appeared for the petitioner. Advocates Sameer Khedekar and Mayuri Andhale represented the MHT-CET. Assistant Government Pleader Savina Crasto represented the State.

Comments have to be in English, and in full sentences. They cannot be abusive or personal. Please abide by our community guidelines for posting your comments.

We have migrated to a new commenting platform. If you are already a registered user of The Hindu and logged in, you may continue to engage with our articles. If you do not have an account please register and login to post comments. Users can access their older comments by logging into their accounts on Vuukle.