HC Asks Mumbai University to Justify ‘No Additional Sheets’ in Exams
- The Bombay HC was hearing a plea filed by students against MU's move to restrict the use of additional answer sheets during the exams.
- The court directed MU to justify the elimination of additional answer sheets to students in exams by December 14, 2017.
On December 12, 2017, the High Court of Mumbai has directed Mumbai University to file a reply justifying its move for not providing additional answer sheets or supplements to students during the exams. A bench of justices BP Colabawalla and BR Gavia directed the authorities of the University of Mumbai to file a reply by December 14, 2017, regarding the same.
On December 12, the court was hearing a petition filed by a final-year student, Manasi Bhushan, who termed the varsity’s decision to prohibit using additional answer sheets as erroneous and arbitrary. Advocate Vishal Kanade, on behalf of petitioners, informed HC that the varsity decided to restrict the usage of additional answer sheets or supplements to regulate the problems faced in the new ‘On Screen Assessment’ system of the varsity.
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In October 2017, the University of Mumbai issued a circular informing the students that answer sheets will not be provided during the exams. The varsity directed the students to complete writing all their answers in the main answer sheet comprising of 37 pages. The circular advised the students not to seek additional answer sheets or supplements during the exams.
On the other hand, the counsel representing the varsity informed HC that the answer booklets issued by the University of Mumbai have separate barcodes. However, supplements or additional answer booklets will have separate barcodes. It will create confusion during the ‘On Screen Assessment. Already, the varsity faced several issues in this regard during the assessment process of April 2017 exams. Therefore, the varsity decided to eliminate supplements or additional answer sheets during the exams, he concluded.
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Advocate Vishal Kanade, on behalf of petitioners, argued that the varsity must try to fix the problems in ‘On Screen Assessment’ system instead of denying additional answer sheets to students. Most of the law students might need additional answer sheets, as they need to write longer, and more subjective answers, he pointed.