Delay in results: Bombay HC issues notice to Maharashtra govt, Mumbai varsity

The Bombay High Court today issued notices to the Maharashtra government and the Mumbai University seeking their response on the delay in announcement of law exam results this year.

A bench of Justices Anoop V Mohta and Bharati Dangre said considering the chaos surrounding the delay in the
assessment of the final semester LLB answer-sheets this year, the "state and the university must join hands to tackle the crisis".

The bench was hearing a bunch of petitions filed by affected students seeking that the authorities be directed to
announce the results without further delay.

One of the pleas, filed by three final year law students, has also sought that the varsity be directed to award monetary compensation to the students, who have had to endure much agony and have missed out on several opportunities
for higher studies in the absence of their undergraduate results.

As per the university's own records, around one lakh law students took their final year exams in April and May this
year and are awaiting the results, they contended.

According to the petitioners, statutory rules mandate that the university must declare the results of any exam
within 45 days of its completion, and that all new academic sessions commence latest by August 1 each year.

The petitioners contended that the primary reason for the delay was the "university's decision to use the new
on-screen assessment system without ensuring adequate infrastructure for its implementation".

Counsel of one of the petitioners claimed that there were even reports that the university had "mixed up the
supplementary and main answer sheets of some students, and that in several cases, the student's main answer sheets had gone missing, thus resulting in further chaos."

The petitioners told the court the university had announced earlier that the assessment of the law papers will be completed by August 24, but it "seemed unlikely".