Fifteen years after a candidate failed in the Part-II MD (Obstetrics and Gynaecology) examination, the Madras High Court has now directed The Tamil Nadu Dr. MGR Medical University to conduct the practical examinations again for her under the university’s then existing examination regulations.
If the candidate obtains 46 marks or above, the university should declare that she had passed in the MD course in June 1998. The practical test should be conducted within four weeks.
A Division Bench comprising Justices N. Paul Vasanthakumar and R. Mahadevan passed the judgment on an appeal by the medical university challenging a single Judge’s order of October 30, 2009.
R. Devika filed a writ petition challenging a university order of February 2007 and sought a direction to the university to issue a revised mark sheet by disclosing the marks secured by her under the sub-heads of practicals and declare her as passed in the MD part-II examination, if she had secured an aggregate of 350 out of 700 on adding the marks under the sub-heads. She had obtained only a total of 346 marks.
A single Judge allowed her plea. Hence, the university’s present appeal.
The Bench said the university regulation clearly stated that five marks each should be awarded under the five sub-heads of practicals. The marks for oral were 75. The said procedure had not been followed in the candidate’s case. The marks awarded in practicals were 42, a lump sum out of 100 marks. The Supreme Court had held in a case that instead of awarding marks item-wise, awarding marks in a lump sum was not justified.
Modifying the single Judge’s order, the Bench directed the university to conduct the test to Dr. Devika by awarding appropriate marks under each of the five sub-heads of practicals, totalling 25 marks, and oral 75 marks.
