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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-

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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

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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.