The High Court of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh recently directed the University of Kashmir to pay ₹1 lakh as compensation to a BA student who was declared ‘failed’ despite having secured passing marks on the re-evaluation of his paper [Abdul Basit vs University of Kashmir].
Justice Javed Iqbal Wani criticized the University for wrongly applying a revaluation rule (“Statute 10”) that unfairly reduced the student’s passing marks, thereby forcing him to retake the exam.
“The illegality and arbitrariness on the part of the respondents (University authorities) is manifest and writ large, besides being patently wrongful, undoubtedly constituting a fit case for grant of compensation in favor of the petitioner … the instant petition is disposed of with a direction to the Respondent-University to pay an amount of ₹1 lakh to the petitioner as damages,” the Court ordered in a May 10 judgment.
The case arose when Abdul Basit, a BA student at the University, was initially shown to have failed his General English paper by scoring 27 marks out of the required 38. Upon re-evaluation, his score increased to 40 marks. However, the University scaled down these marks to 34 by applying a rule relevant only when the revaluation difference exceeded 30 percent. Consequently, Basit was declared to have failed and was required to retake the exam, which he eventually passed.
Basit then filed a petition challenging the University’s decision, arguing that his rights were violated by the arbitrary application of an unknown rule to lower his marks. His counsel contended that the University tried to cover up its unfair actions by compelling him to reappear for the exam.
The University argued that Basit could not claim any relief under the High Court’s writ jurisdiction since none of his rights were violated. However, the Court rejected this stance, finding that the rule used to scale down Basit’s marks was inapplicable in his case and that the University had acted arbitrarily and illegally.
The Court concluded that the University’s actions caused significant prejudice to the student by forcing him to retake the exam. Justice Wani stated that Basit deserved compensation for the mindless application of the statute, which disregarded his re-evaluated marks.
As a result, the Court directed the University of Kashmir to pay ₹1 lakh in damages to Basit within four weeks. Advocate Bhat Fayaz Ahmed represented the student, while Senior Advocate Syed Faisal with Advocate Asif Maqbool represented the University.
