Advocate pursuing MPhil alleges Mumbai University's law department tampered with his answer sheets

Sachin Adkar, law student and complainant

Advocate Sachin Adkar, a 44-year-old MPhil law student locked in a two-and-a-half-year dispute with the Mumbai University over allegations of withholding results, has now claimed the varsity's law department tampered with his answer sheets. His fight for transparency has now reached the Bombay High Court, where he seeks criminal action against the department. The court on December 18, asked the Azad Maidan police to conduct a preliminary investigation into the matter.

Adkar, who appeared for his MPhil theory examinations in July 2022, claimed he was unfairly denied his marksheet after being told he had failed. He alleged that photocopies of his answer sheets, obtained after prolonged delays and intervention by the Maharashtra governor, who is the chancellor of all state universities, revealed tampering through overwriting and scribbling on his marks.

Struggle for transparency

Adkar's ordeal began in 2022 when the university informed him he had failed but refused to provide access to his results or allow him to apply for revaluation, citing a rule that no revaluation facility is available for MPhil exams. However, Adkar produced a list of revaluation results from 2018 of MPhil students from other departments. After months of inaction, he sought the intervention of the governor, leading to the eventual release of photocopies of his answer sheets. However, the initial documents had the marks masked, and a second set allegedly showed evidence of tampering and overwriting.

Adkar then filed a written police complaint against the law department at the Azad Maidan police station on October 30, 2024. "The law department denies failed students access to their results and revaluation opportunities, unlike other university departments," said Adkar. "This discrepancy is deeply unfair and jeopardises my academic future, especially as the MPhil programme has now been discontinued by the UGC [University Grants Commission]. Despite all this, I found that they had tampered with the marks. To cover this up, they masked the marks in the photocopies given to me earlier. Isn't this criminal?" he added. Adkar also filed multiple Right to Information (RTI) applications, which revealed the university's controversial policy of withholding results for failed students.

The responses claimed there was no provision for revaluation or for sharing answer sheets with students who had not passed. Adkar, however, argues that these rules cited by MU in the RTI replies lack written backing and are arbitrary. "This behaviour by university officials is harassment under the guise of rules," said Santosh Gangurde, state chief organiser of the Maharashtra Navnirman Vidyarthi Sena, who has been helping Adkar in his case. "Adkar's persistence has exposed administrative failures, and those responsible must face stringent action," Gangurde added. The University Grants Commission discontinued the MPhil degree in December 2023, making Adkar part of the last batch eligible for the qualification, heightening his concerns about delays.

Legal intervention

Frustrated, Adkar petitioned the Bombay High Court, arguing that his case shed light on larger issues of transparency and fairness within academic institutions. Adkar's petition accuses the varsity's law department of intentionally withholding his MPhil results for two years. The student alleged the department deliberately withheld his revaluation request and answer sheet instead of forwarding it to the director of the Board of Examination and Evaluation for proper re-examination, among other violations. Adkar also asserted that the department violated orders issued by the governor. Adkar in his petition sought an investigation into the matter and the filing of an FIR against teachers of the law department. He has also demanded that the answer sheets be sent to a handwriting expert for investigation.

Police Speak

PSI Parmeshwar Jadhav, the investigating officer in the case, told mid-day he was yet to meet university officials, the HoD and other teachers from the law department. "The court has directed that a preliminary investigation be conducted into the matter. However, I am on leave right now. I will be meeting all the parties involved in the case and take their statements first," Jadhav said. When mid-day reached out to the HoD of the law department, Dr Swati Rautela, she did not comment on the issue. The university's public relations department, also, did not respond to this reporter's queries.