Jahanvi Agarwal
On 22nd January 2024, the Supreme Court instructed Himachal Pradesh University to provide compensation of Rs 4 lakhs to a student, due to discrepancies in the re-evaluation process. The Bench, comprising Justices J K Maheshwari and Sudhanshu Dhulia, held the university responsible for re-evaluating subjects for which the student had neither applied nor paid the revaluation fee.
Based on the facts, the Court’s order emphasized that it was evident that the appellant sought revaluation for just two subjects. However, due to Clause 10 in the Revaluation Form, re-evaluation for additional subjects was conducted without the paying the required fee.
Initially seeking revaluation for Botany and Hindi, accompanied by the necessary fees, the appellant encountered a situation where the university re-evaluated all subjects, resulting in a reduction of marks in areas not requested for reassessment.
Dissatisfied, the appellant approached the trial court, seeking damages totalling 10 lakhs. While the trial court ruled in favour of the appellant, imposing a cost of 4 lakhs on the university, the High Court overturned this decision. Expressing discontent with the High Court’s ruling, the Supreme Court deemed it legally untenable.
The Court, in its opinion, stated, “After hearing and perusal of the findings recorded by the learned Judge, we themselves are unable to understand the intention and the observations made by the learned Judge without going through the pleadings and the evidence brought on record and how far those observations are correct.” Consequently, the Supreme Court reinstated the trial court’s order, instructing the university to compensate the student with a sum of Rs 4 lakhs.
Case Name: Vyjyanti Mehra v. Himachal Pradesh University
Diary Number: 19398/2017
Bench: Justices J K Maheshwari and Sudhanshu Dhulia