Full Judgment Text
http://JUDIS.NIC.IN SUPREME COURT OF INDIA Page 1 of 3
PETITIONER:
CONTROLLER OF EXAMINATIONS,UTKAL UNIVERSITY
Vs.
RESPONDENT:
MISS PAURNAMASI DAS
DATE OF JUDGMENT19/09/1995
BENCH:
MANOHAR SUJATA V. (J)
BENCH:
MANOHAR SUJATA V. (J)
PUNCHHI, M.M.
CITATION:
1995 SCC (6) 81 1995 SCALE (5)497
ACT:
HEADNOTE:
JUDGMENT:
WITH
CIVIL APPEAL NO.....8399.....OF 1995
(Arising out of S.L.P. (Civil) No.19991 OF 1994)
Utkal University & Anr.
Versus.
Nihar Ranjan Nayak
J U D G M E N T
Mrs. Sujata V. Manohar. J.
Leave granted.
These two appeals pertain to the pre-degree and final
degree examinations conducted by the Utkal University for
awarding the B.A. degree. The Utkal University has framed
Regulations for the conduct of examinations. Under
Regulation 12 of the Regulations, classes (i.e. First class
Hons., Second class Hons., etc.) are awarded in both pre-
degree and final degree examinations separately. Regulation
12 provides that classes are awarded separately in each
examination and both shall be shown in the diploma. In the
pre-degree examination, Regulation 12 provides, inter alia,
that in order to obtain a 2nd Class Honours, a minimum of
30% marks are required in core subjects other than honours
subject, while 45% marks in the aggregate are required in
all the honours papers taken together. For obtaining a 1st
Class Honours, a minimum of 30% is required in each subject
but in the honours subject, 60% marks are required in the
aggregate.
The second part of Regulation 12 deals with the final
examination. In the final examination, in order to obtain
2nd Class Honours degree, a minimum of 30% is required in
each subject and 45% of marks are required in the aggregate
of all the honours papers provided that the candidate has
retained honours in the pre-degree examination. In order to
obtain a 1st Class Honours degree in the final examination,
a minimum of 30% marks are required in each subject and 60%
of marks are required for the aggregate of honours papers
provided the candidate has retained honours in the pre-
http://JUDIS.NIC.IN SUPREME COURT OF INDIA Page 2 of 3
degree examination. These Regulations, therefore, clearly
provide that in the final examination a candidate will be
granted an honours degree, either in the 1st class or the
2nd class as the case may be, provided he has obtained
honours in the pre-degree examination. The material portion
of Regulation 16 (b) is as follows:
"Based on the marks of the final
examination only the list of those who
have obtained honours shall be arranged
in two classes and within each class the
names shall be arranged in order of
merit........"
Therefore, the class which is awarded to a candidate in the
final examination depends entirely on the marks obtained by
the candidate in the final examination. For obtaining an
honours degree, however, there is an additional condition
that an honours in the final examination will not be granted
to a candidate if he had failed to secure honours in the
pre-degree examination. Therefore, in order to obtain an
honours degree a candidate must secure honours in the pre-
degree examination. He must also secure honours in the final
examination. The class that he obtains will depend upon the
marks obtained in the final examination alone.
In 1990, the Utkal University framed, what is known as
a Hard Case Rule for pre-degree and final degree
examinations of the plus three year degree course. This Rule
deals with various kinds of hard cases. It inter alia,
provides that if a candidate who appears for an honours
degree in any honours subject fails to secure honours, or
the next higher class in the honours subject, by not more
than 0.5% of the maximum marks in the honours subject, the
required marks be added to the paper in which the candidate
has secured the highest percentage of marks to enable
him/her to retain honours or to secure the next higher class
as the case may be.
In the light of these provisions, let us examine the
facts in the two appeals which are before us.
In appeal No.8398/95 arising out of S.L.P.(C)
No.6663/94, the respondent appeared for the pre-degree B.A.
examination conducted by the Utkal University in 1992. Her
honours subject was Oriya language. She secured 201 out of
400 marks and thus qualified for appearing as an honours
student in the final degree examination. In 1993, the
respondent appeared in the final degree examination. She
obtained 176 marks out of 400 in her honours subject. Since
the minimum percentage of marks required for an honours
degree are 45%, she was short of the minimum required by 4
marks. She, therefore, did not qualify for an honours degree
and she was awarded a B.A. general degree and not an honours
degree. As per the Hard Case Rule, she was entitled to be
given 0.5% of the maximum marks if this enabled her to
obtain the minimum marks required for an honours degree.
Since the maximum marks in her honours subject were 400, she
was entitled to obtain 2 grace marks under the Hard Case
Rule. This, however, was not sufficient for her to obtain
the minimum 45% marks. Therefore, she could not have
obtained an honours degree.
It is the contention of the respondent that if the
maximum marks are to be counted as 400 marks in the pre-
degree examination plus 400 marks in the final degree
examination, the total maximum marks would be 800 and,
therefore, she would be entitled to 4 grace marks under the
Hard Case Rule. If she is given these 4 marks in her final
degree examination in her honours papers, she will be able
to obtain 45% marks in her honours subject. This contention
http://JUDIS.NIC.IN SUPREME COURT OF INDIA Page 3 of 3
which found favour with the High Court does not appear to
derive any support from the Regulations pertaining to the
conduct of examinations of the Utkal University. The Hard
Case Rule quite clearly provides that it is to be applied in
each part of the examinations separately.
Paragraph 2(3) of the Hard Case Rule provides that "the
Hard Case Rule shall be applied in each part", each part
being the pre-degree B.A.examination and the final degree
B.A. examination. The entire scheme of marks under the
Regulations also quite clearly makes separate provisions for
the pre-degree examination and for the final degree
examination. Regulation 16(b) also very clearly provides
that the marks in the final degree examination only will be
the basis for awarding honours and class. Therefore, it is
not possible to add the marks which can be obtained in the
pre-degree examination to the marks in the final degree
examination for the purpose of applying the Hard Case Rule.
In the pre-degree examination also if the candidate misses
honours by 0.5% marks she can have those marks added. In the
present case, there was no occasion to apply the Hard Case
Rule to the respondent in the pre-degree examination since
she obtained 45% marks in her pre-degree examination. The
only occasion for applying the Hard Case Rule arose at the
time of the final degree examination. However, under the
Hard Case Rule only 2 marks could have been added which were
not sufficient for the respondent to obtain honours in the
final degree examination. The High Court was, therefore, not
right in coming to the conclusion that 4 marks should be
added in the final degree examination.
In appeal No.8399/95 arising out of S.L.P.(C)
No.19991/94 also the respondent appeared for the pre-degree
examination in 1992. His honours subject was Political
Science. He secured 243 out of 400 marks in his honours
subject and thus qualified for appearing in the final degree
examination for a 1st Class Honours Degree, the minimum
marks for a 1st Class Degree being 60% in the honours
subject. In 1993, the respondent appeared in the final
degree examination. He obtained 236 out of 400 marks for the
honours subject. This fell short of the minimum requirement
for a 1st Class Degree by 4 marks. Hence, the respondent was
awarded a 2nd Class Honours Degree to which he was eligible
in view of his marks in the final examination and in view of
the fact that he had obtained honours in the pre-degree
examination. The respondent contended that he should be
granted 4 marks under the Hard Case Rule on the same grounds
as the respondent in appeal No.8398/95 arising out of
S.L.P.(C) No.6663/94. For the reasons which we have already
set out, the maximum marks which could have been added were
2 under the Hard Case Rule. This would not have enabled the
respondent to obtain a minimum 60% marks in the honours
subject in the final degree examination.
In the premises, both the appeals are allowed. The
judgments and orders of the High Court are set aside and the
writ petitions are dismissed. In the circumstances, there
will be no order as to costs.