Mumbai: In a first, MSHRC takes note of MU law result chaos

Law student Kajal Patil

The Maharashtra State Human Rights Commission (MSHRC), in a rare move, has taken a suo moto cognisance of the chaos over the Mumbai University's law examination result. The action was taken after a student scored 0 in a paper and was on the verge of losing an academic year.

Kajal Patil, a third-year student of G J Advani Law College, had to apply for re-examination as she missed the re-evaluation deadline because the MU had assured her that the correct result will be released soon. Patil said she might have missed her last semester exam, which starts on June 11, if she hadn't applied for a re-test for the Public Interest Litigation (PIL) paper.

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This would have meant losing an entire academic year, she added. Following news reports on the matter, the MSHRC sought an explanation from the MU. The varsity submitted the response on May 10. MSHRC was unsatisfied with the response and scheduled another hearing on June 28. It has asked Patil to be present at the hearing.

"The issue is the university takes everything casually. Whenever I approached them, I was told that I am not alone and that there are others facing a similar situation. If this is the case, the varsity should develop an effective mechanism to ensure students are not hassled," said Kajal, who received her result on May 4, just four days before the re-examination. She had passed the PIL paper but hasn't received the mark sheet yet.

"Nobody can score zero in any paper because everybody answers a few questions at least. They had asked me to prove if I was present for the exam. I had to procure the required documents from the college to prove it," Patil said.

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MU PRO for examination section Vinod Malale said, "That specific student's result was kept reserved due to technical reasons and was declared subsequently. We have submitted our response to the Human Rights Commission and in the next hearing we will submit the copy of her mark sheet too."

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